Hakimullah appointed new TTP chief

[samiullahawan]

Hakeemullah Mehsud has been on Saturday declared to be the successor of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Baitullah Mehsud.

Talking to a British news agency by phone, TTP Acting Amir Maulvi Faqir denied the reports of Baitullah’s killing, saying Baitullah Mehsud is alive and wanted to appoint an amir in his lifespan.

The TTP acting Amir said 42-strong council of Taliban appointed Hakeemullah their chief in live of Baitullah and Azam Tariq as the new central spokesman of the militant outfit.

He told that TTP Council had a meeting in Orakzai Agency, attended by Taliban and militants from Bandu Basti areas.

Faqir said Haji Muslim Khan was designated as Acting spokesman after the Maulvi Omar was detained; however, as there was no phone in the area, Azam Tariq will function as the new central spokesman of Taliban.

There was report earlier that Maulvi Faqir, one of Mehsud's deputies and spokesman, said the TTP held a shura (council) meeting and named him as their leader.

Faqir said that other Taliban senior leaders Maulvi Nazir and HafizGul Bahadar are also happy over the appointment of new TTP chief.

Hakimullah Mehsud, in his late twenties, had been one of the strong candidates for TTP leadership. He has served as spokesman for Baitullah Mehsud and in-charge of TTP at Orakzai and Khyber tribal agencies. He is the cousin of Qari Hussain, the cold-blooded commander who is the trainer and sponsor of suicide bombers across the country. He had been known as a mobile Taliban commander amongst the militants.

Hakimullah also has good contacts with Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, a fanatic Sunni outfit with anti-Shia ambitions. He has good contacts in Punjab and Sindh provinces and has trained a large number of Punjabi Taliban militants in South Waziristan tribal agency.

Hakimullah uses these Punjabi Taliban militants whenever he needs to carry out a suicide attack in settled areas. He belongs to Kotkey village in Ludha area inside South Waziristan.

Hakimullah was reportedly killed on Aug. 8 in armed clash between two groups of the TTP during the shura meeting to elect a new chief in northwest Pakistan's South Waziristan tribal region.

Pakistan's most wanted militant commander, Baitullah Mehsud, was reportedly killed along with his wife and bodyguards by United States missile attack on Aug. 5.

Hakimullah appointed new TTP chief: TV_English_Xinhua

 

[Munir]

Poor guy. He will be the next to be send to hell... And I doubt anyone is unhappy about it. Go Pak forces Go!

 

[samiullahawan]

yeah send him to hell.....but i think now taliban will not be as strong as they were under flag of baitullah.....

 

[Patriot]

Well he will be taken care of in due time.

 

[TaimiKhan]

I just went through Dawn News website & one there major news website, no such headline for the time being, nor anything on the TV news channel.

 

[samiullahawan]

hmmm....i'll look for it...

 

[Xeric]

So they are getting up again. Well let's see what this hakeem chap can bring in for his followers. Most importantly he needs to re organize his 'force', but i think it would take some time till he is able to do it, as BM death has left quite a potent void within the talibans.

 

[TaimiKhan]

I just said this news is no where to be seen in the major news websites & not on TV channels, meaning its a major news should have been now talk of the day on all of them by now. Geo is not worth to be read.

 

[samiullahawan]

yes...ur right

 

[Mirage2000]

Until we conduct a full scale operation in south Waziristan this BS is not going to stop,Even if we aknowledge that Baitullah is alive then why there is a need of a successor?,he may be close to death,and who knows that person calling himself Hakimullah is Hakimullah himself,he may be some low grade Taliban pretending to be Hakimullah or may be a agent of foreign intelligence agency such as RAW trying to boost taliban morale or to scare populus,but because there is no means of discovering truth we must not pay heed to such reports,untill there is a video message available to media.

 

[TaimiKhan]

Removed. The previous post cleared too.

 

[TaimiKhan]

Until we conduct a full scale operation in south Waziristan this BS is not going to stop,Even if we aknowledge that Baitullah is alive then why there is a need of a successor?,he may be close to death,and who knows that person calling himself Hakimullah is Hakimullah himself,he may be some low grade Taliban pretending to be Hakimullah or may be a agent of foreign intelligence agency such as RAW trying to boost taliban morale or to scare populus,but because there is no means of discovering truth we must not pay heed to such reports,untill there is a video message available to media.

Check out some of the other threads, in one of them it has been said through some intelligence officials that the phone number from which hakeemullah himself called has been traced to some middle eastern country & is said that he may have been the cousin of hakeemullah mehsud. Till some video is released the rumors will persist & confirmation for what taliban say will be authenticated.

 

[The Patriot]

Why these Taliban call and give interviews on Western channels especially BBC or reuters. All their news spring out from these channels. As if these channels are working as their propaganda channel.

 

[samiullahawan]

hmmm...might be there own agents....

 

[muse]

Count on the Iranian and the Afghan to be seriousloy interested in this development:

EDITORAIL: Hakimullah as Taliban leader

Hakimullah Mehsud has been proclaimed as the next chief of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan. This was done on Saturday by commander Maulvi Faqir Muhammad of Bajaur, who was seen as the chief spokesman of ex-chief Baitullah Mehsud. Just a day earlier, he had declared himself the leader of TTP, indicating that this is a last-minute fresh decision by the TTP shura.

Faqir Muhammad admitted to “some problems” before he decided to step down and yield the position to Hakimullah. But he made it clear that he would be the deputy leader in the new set-up. He has 5,000 men under arms in Bajaur where he coexists with groups representing two Al Qaeda Arab leaders, the late Zarqawi and Al Zawahiri. Hakimullah has 8,000 warriors under his command. The late Baitullah Mehsud had 30,000.

The scaling down of the power required to become a TTP leader is obvious from the army that Hakimullah will have at his disposal. The 42-member shura met in Orakzai, the stronghold of Hakimullah, indicating that he was able to establish himself as the most powerful commander with an outreach matched by no one else within the TTP. He has dominance in three agencies, Orakzai, Kurram and Khyber, somewhat akin to what Baitullah Mehsud had.

The new spokesman of the TTP will be Azam Tariq, clearly a sectarian choice because of his name. Maulana Azam Tariq of Jhang in South Punjab, head of the banned Sipah-e-Sahaba, was the biggest Shia-killer of all, and was himself killed in 2003 near Islamabad. The choice of the TTP spokesman indicates the dominance of Orakzai Agency where sectarian war is going on between Hakimullah and the Shia commander Hussain Ali Shah who is said to have 7,000 men under arms.

Hakimullah was considered very close to Baitullah and was known to be his driver, an indication of the trust he had in him. However, there are rumours abroad that Hakimullah may not yet be the truly chosen leader and that uncertainty will reign as long as the new leader is not able to show that he has the loyalty of everyone across the FATA and Malakand. He is not expected to have problems with the madrassa network in the rest of Pakistan. Already the in-laws of Baitullah Mehsud have been picked up by his men, some say on the suspicion that they might have spied on him; others say, for hiding Baitullah’s treasure.

Hakimullah represents the typical breed of long-haired and bearded killers that one sees everywhere in the video coverage of their tribal hideouts. He comes across as a rash swashbuckling fighter who would rather kill than sit down and talk; and not give ground when invited to talks. Above all, he is violently sectarian and, together with commander Qari Hussain, the most savage of warriors with expertise in producing suicide-bombers, has been the scourge of the Shias of Kurram, cutting them off from the rest of Pakistan.

Hakimullah is also known for his slack allegiance to any Islamic ethic. His leadership will give encouragement to the criminal aspects of the TTP from Peshawar to Karachi. Incidents of kidnapping for ransom and bank robberies are expected to increase under him. But it will depend on how strong his writ will run among the various terrorist elements. And that in turn will depend on his acquisition of the treasure that Baitullah has left behind. The fight is on for its capture.

If Hakimullah is not able to lay his hands on the full multi-billion treasure trove left behind by Baitullah, Pakistan may expect an increase in criminal violence. The sectarian graph will rise too. Fortunately, however, Hakimullah’s outreach is expected to be seriously limited, encouraging the regional commanders to cut loose and be on their own. At the same time, the Pakistan army and the security agencies, now beefed up in numbers and expertise, will have a better chance of taking Hakimullah out or at least prevent his mischief from escalating the way it did under Baitullah.