Pakistani Taliban 'No. 2 Fired'

Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan deputy commander Maulvi Faqir Mohammad has been removed.

A spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban says the No. 2 commander in the movement has been removed.

Maulvi Faqir Mohammad was the Taliban's commander in Bajaur, one of Pakistan's seven districts in the tribal belt on the Afghan border.

Spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan was quoted as saying Mohammad was fired on March 4 at a meeting presided over by Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Hakimullah Mehsud.

Ehsan added that Mohammad would continue to serve the group as an ordinary member.

No reason was given for the removal, and a successor was not announced.

The TTP is a loose group of militant commanders founded and run by Baitullah Mehsud until his death in a U.S. drone strike in August 2009.

His killing sparked a bitter succession battle won by his former deputy, Hakimullah Mehsud.

With AFP reporting