The BBC reported the assassination of two senior members of the “Pakistani Taliban” in Kabul last week.

The killing of the two men, named by the BBC as Sheikh Khalid Haqqani and Qari Saifullah, has raised concerns among Afghan analysts who say that the infiltration of key Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) leaders in Kabul raises a lot of questions.

The Afghan security agencies so far have not commented officially.

However, a security source speaking to TOLOnews on condition of anonymity said that last week “two men” were “mysteriously” killed in an area near the Intercontinental Hotel in PD5 of the Afghan capital Kabul, which is the location also identified by the BBC report.

According to the source, the Afghan security agencies arrested the assailants.

Sami Yousufzai, a co-author of the BBC report, told TOLOnews that the two men “wanted to go to Kunar from Paktika, they were supposed to meet or attend an invitation in Kabul near the Intercontinental hotel, but they were killed there.”

Afghan commentators speculated about the alleged meeting and death of the two men:

“Khalid Haqqani and Younus (Qari Saifullah) perhaps came to Kabul to shine a signal and reach sort of harmony with the officials (Afghan officials), I think those people who do not want the Taliban to surrender or end the war plotted this attack on them,” said political analyst Ahmad Saeedi.

Haqqani was one of the close aides to former TTP leader Hakimullah Mehsud who was killed in a drone strike in 2013. Haqqani was formerly a deputy head of the TTP, and had currently held a “key position” in the group’s leadership council, said the BBC report.

“This is a major blow to the Pakistani Taliban, it is a great loss for them, the Pakistani Taliban are currently under massive pressure, some of their leaders have sought refuge in Afghanistan,” said Pakistani journalist Tahir Khan

Details of the incident will be shared with the public once the investigations are completed, the security source said.