A senior Taliban commander and close ally of Baitullah in the Orakzai Agency told The News: 'We don't know about any such decision to nominate Faqir Mohammad as the new leader of the TTP. Most of our people are unaware of his decision and we will soon show our reaction.'

On Wednesday, TTP had named Muslim Khan as the group's new spokesman, the Online news agency reported.

The decision was taken after the arrest of the TTP's central spokesman Moulvi Omar by the security forces.

Moulvi Omar, spokesman of the TTP, was captured by the security forces in the Mohmand tribal agency while he was heading to Bajaur in a car with two of his associates.

Taliban Pakistan, an alliance of around 13 militant groups, is blamed for a wave of bomb and suicide attacks across Pakistan, including the one that killed former prime minister Benazir Bhutto in December 2007.