Pakistani Taliban video pays tribute to key planner of 2023 Mianwali airbase attack
The Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), in a tribute video released following the death of senior commander Saqib Gandapur, disclosed that he had played a central role in the November 2023 attack on the Mianwali airbase in Punjab. Gandapur had been appointed by the TTP as the shadow governor for his native district of Dera Ismail Khan for the year 2025. He was killed on 15 February 2025, along with seven associates, during a security forces raid.
This disclosure was made in the 25th episode of the TTP’s series Rasm-e- Mohabbat, which was dedicated to commemorating Gandapur. The seven-minute Urdu-language video was produced by the TTP’s official media arm, Umar Media, and disseminated on 11 August 2025 via its official channels on social media platforms, including Telegram and WhatsApp.
According to the video, Gandapur’s real name was Farmanullah, and he originated from Kulachi Tehsil in Dera Ismail Khan. His involvement in militancy began 28 years earlier, when he fought in support of the Taliban in Afghanistan. The video further stated that Gandapur participated in multiple battles alongside the Afghan Taliban and had served under the command of former Taliban military chief Mullah Dadullah Akhund. Following the commencement of the Pakistani Taliban’s insurgency against the Pakistani state, he also engaged in operations within Pakistan, maintaining involvement in militant activities across both Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The video asserted that Gandapur was responsible for planning and leading significant TTP operations, most notably the large-scale assault on MM Alam Airbase in Mianwali district in November 2023, which involved 14 suicide attackers. At the time, responsibility for the attack had been claimed by a previously unknown entity, Tehrik-e-Jihad Pakistan (TJP). Subsequent disclosures, including the present video, confirmed that TJP functioned as a front organization for the TTP, established in 2023 to claim responsibility for suicide attacks conducted within Pakistan.
The Oxus Watch notes that Gandapur was the second TTP shadow governor to be killed in successive security force operations in early 2025. On 15 February 2025, security forces targeted his operational base in Dera Ismail Khan, resulting in his death alongside seven militants. Previously, on 25 January 2025, the shadow governor of Khyber district, Qari Ismail, had been killed in the Tirah area during a raid, along with another senior commander.
