Mangal Bagh

Mangal Bagh (1973 – 28 January 2021), also known as Mangal Bagh Afridi, was the leader of Lashkar-e-Islam, a militant group operating in Pakistan and Afghanistan. He was killed in a roadside bomb attack in Nangarhar, Afghanistan on 28 January 2021.

Personal life Bagh was from the Bara Tehsil, and belonged to the Sepah Afridi tribe.

Bagh was not very educated as he attended only primary school in his native town.

Bagh-led Lashkar-e-Islam allied itself with Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP). In 2008, Bagh and his militant group retreated to Afghanistan following a series of military operations conducted by the Pakistan army in Bara and later Tirah valley.

During his stay in Afghanistan, Lashkar-e-Islam allied itself with Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS).

Afghan Taliban sources said Mangal Bagh had once joined forces with the Afghan government-backed militia known as Arbaki to fight the Afghan Taliban in Nangarhar province. No group or individual took responsibility for assassinating Bagh. Bagh's death was confirmed by Nangarhar's Governor Zia-ul-Haq Amarkhel.

However, in May 2017, Inter-Services Public Relations tacitly admitted that reports of Bagh's death were false when they announced that Pakistani forces conducted an operation in Khyber Agency, killing several militants after receiving a tip-off relating to the presence of Bagh.

Reports of Bagh's death were proven false when the United States added Bagh to the U.S. State Department's Rewards for Justice wanted list on 7 March 2018.