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TTP, Afghan Taliban and Al Qaeda: Three Heads of the Same Monster

TalibanSwatter

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DAWN NEWS

PESHAWAR: With Hakeemullah Mehsud having been formally appointed the amir of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), replacing the dreaded Baitullah, the power-struggle is over (at least for the moment) and the first phase of transition in tribal areas’ extremist Islamic militant movement is complete.

Details regarding the process of his selection remain sketchy. But a few people outside the militant movement who have met Hakimullah know that he must have prevailed upon the TTP shura, leaving no doubt about a possible split in case anyone else was chosen to lead the movement.

Hakeemullah Mehsud’s meteoric rise to Fata’s nascent, but ferocious Taliban movement, is not entirely unexpected. It may take experts on the movement weeks, or possibly, months to understand and assess the 29-year-old new amir.

Who is this man? Is he related to Baitullah Mehsud? Will his policies be any different from his predecessor’s? Also, does he have the capability, acumen and desire to expand the TTP movement by bringing other militant groups into its fold?

With the passage of time it may be possible to get answers to some of these questions. But for some of us who were part of a group of Pakistani television journalists that had travelled to Hakeemullah-controlled part of the Orakzai tribal agency in November last year it was not difficult to immediately notice in him the ambition and desire to be in the leadership role.

In fact, the trip arranged by Hakeemullah’s men was largely designed to introduce the ‘young turk’ of the Taliban movement to the media and to air his views on religion and politics and his ambition to take the movement beyond Fata to mainland Pakistan.

It was a journey a few of us will forget. Some of us had travelled all the way from Peshawar. Others had joined half-way. At one point, Hakimullah’s heavily armed loyalists took control of our caravan. We spent a night somewhere in the Taliban territory, before being taken to Arkanjo Mamozai village in Orakzai Agency to meet Hakimullah and his band of ferocious fighters.

If a few of us were nervous it was quite understandable. Although quite photogenic, and unlike most other militant leaders, smartly dressed, his cold looks and wry smile left little doubt that he may not think twice before killing anyone.

Yet he was intelligent enough to grasp the significance and power of the media and tried to make the maximum of the presence of the television teams to express his views on issues ranging from the situation in Afghanistan, to TTP’s links with Mullah Omar and his Taliban movement, to Pakistan’s political scene, particularly his views about the Awami National Party. It was not difficult to see how much he hated the ANP.

At the same time, Hakeemullah also wanted to present himself as a modern man, who not only had the desire to ‘conquer’ rest of the tribal territories, but also someone who knew a lot about guns and machines. So, while at one point he sought the cameramen’s indulgence while showing off by speeding around in an armoured-plated Humvee that his men had captured during a raid on a convoy of American vehicles in the Khyber Agency, an hour later he invited the journalists to participate in a gun-shooting competition.

Comparisons between Hakeemullah and Baitullah would serve as a study of contrasts. While Baitullah was introvert and media-shy, the former is extrovert and media-savvy.

Some of the journalists did make an attempt, but soon gave up, realising the difference between shooting with a camera and a sub-machine gun. There was no stopping for Hakeemullah, who first fired dozens of rounds from a light-machine gun, then picked up a heavier gun and within seconds emptied the magazine.

And as if this were not enough, he fired a grenade using RPG, perhaps to prove that he was comfortable with all kinds of weapons. One of his close associates described it as Hakeemullah’s 'favourite toy'.

By now it was more than evident that this ‘image-building exercise’ was aimed at presenting him as a future leader of the local Taliban.

Hakeemullah Mehsud, after having lived for some time under the shadow of Baitullah Mehsud, had started spreading his wings early last year. Since he always believed in leading from the front, Baitullah had given him charge of three tribal agencies, and when we met him in November, he had gained a foothold in Orakzai, was actively involved in supporting the local Taliban in Kurram, and was making his presence felt in Khyber.

The young and battle-hardened Hakeemullah, whose real name is believed to be Jamshed, first rose to prominence by the name of Zulfiqar Mehsud, as a spokesman for the Baitullah-led militant group in 2007.

He also used the nickname of Hakeemullah and is now known by this name to most media personnel and also to Taliban fighters. Hakeemullah hails from Kotki village of Sarwaki subdivision and belongs to the Eshangai branch of Mehsud tribe. Having received rudimentary madressah education in Hangu, Hakimullah appears to be a fully trained warrior.

As Zulfiqar Mehsud, Hakeemullah had a few telephonic interactions with this correspondent, but it was during our visit to Orakzai Agency in November last year when I met Hakeemullah for the first time.

Ajmal Mehsud, a close associate of Hakeemullah who escorted us from the Giljo base of the Taliban at the Government Girls Degree College to Arkhanjo, was full of praise for his views and fighting skills.

'Hakeemullah is the best shooter and driver in the entire tribal area and no one except Shaheed Naek Muhammad could have matched him.'

More ambitious than his predecessor who mostly remained confined to South Waziristan, Hakeemullah explained to this correspondent his expansionist designs.

'If the Pakistan government continues with its policy of following American dictates, (some day) we can even try to capture Peshawar, Hangu and even Islamabad,' he said. 'And we have the strength to do it.'

He also did not hide his views about Al Qaeda. In an interview with Dawn News TV during the trip, Hakeemullah openly praised the international terrorist movement.

'We are Al Qaeda’s friends as both us the Taliban and the Arab fighters have shown our allegiance to Amir-ul-Momineen Mullah Omar of Afghanistan, but there is no Al Qaeda in South Waziristan. It’s only the US and the Pakistan government’s propaganda. They don’t have any proof.'

Hakeemullah’s nomination as the new TTP chief would be worrisome for Pakistani authorities, but more so for the NWFP government. Hakimullah is not a traditional mullah, as he does not have a proper degree from a religious school.

However, he knows how to exploit Pakhtuns’ religious as well as nationalist sentiments. 'We do not give two hoots to Awami National Party’s tirade against Taliban,' Hakeemullah had said in the interview.

'We can have an agreement with all the political parties but not with ANP,' he said.

While ridiculing the ANP in his typical style, Hakimullah was unable to hide his desire to expand the scope of his activities by claiming that once the ANP used to say that like them the Taliban too were Pakhtuns, but the way the situation was developing the ANP might soon take back its claim to be representatives of the Pakhtuns.

It may well be a far-fetched idea. But then this was in November last year, and Hakeemullah’s first direct interaction with the media. Now he is head of the powerful Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan. So, if even half of what he had been claiming were to be believed, his ambitions may mean more trouble for the Pakistani authorities, and certainly for the ANP-led government in the NWFP.
 
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DAWN NEWS August 10

The Taliban have withheld an announcement about the death of their leader, pending nomination of his successor, amid intelligence reports that a Mehsud militant shura met for the third day running at a secret location in Ludda in the volatile South Waziristan to nominate a new leader.

The meeting short-listed three candidates but stopped short of naming one, suggesting a power struggle among main contenders, a senior government official said.

Waliur Rehman, a deputy to Baitullah, is said to be leading the list with majority of shura members siding with him.

The forty-something Wali is Baitullah’s cousin and an Alizai Mehsud by tribe and hails from the village of Tangi in Serwekai.

The next on the list is the young, brash and aggressive Hakeemullah Mehsud, until very recently Baitullah’s commander for Kurram, Orakzai and Khyber tribal regions before he was recalled to South Waziristan to face off a possible military operation.

Hakeemullah, who once worked as Baitullah’s driver, was considered to be very close to the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan leader and was widely considered to be his likely successor.

‘Baitullah had groomed him well for the task,’ a senior military official said. ‘He could be a natural choice, but his shooting-from-the-hip attitude may actually down his chances.’

The third in the line of serious contenders is little known 50-year-old Azmatullah Mehsud, a Taliban commander in Barwand.

‘The failure by the shura to quickly come up with a Baitullah successor indicates a power struggle within the key players,’ a senior government official said.

‘It’s not just the key players within the Mehsud clans wanting the mantle of leadership, the Ahmadzai Wazir militants in Wana and the Utmankhels’ leader in Miramshah would like to take on the mantle. They are lobbying and jockeying for power,’ the official said.

‘And I think the Haqqani-Al Qaeda network will play a pivotal role in the whole process,’ the official said, referring to Siraj Haqqani, son of veteran Taliban leader Jalaluddin Haqqani.

The young Haqqani, often referred to as Khalifa Siraj, is Mullah Omar’s pointman for North and South Waziristan. Baitullah had taken oath of allegiance to Khalifa Siraj, who had helped the 37-year-old gain leadership of the Taliban in South Waziristan at the expense of the one-legged former Guantanamo detainee, Abdullah Mehsud.


But government and security officials watching the scene unfolding in South Waziristan say Baitullah’s death is a major setback for the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan.

‘This is a big setback for them. Baitullah was a phenomenon. It will take them a considerable time to regain their composure,’ the security official said.



‘The man has taken a lot of secrets with himself and for any successor will need a lot of time to rebuild and re-establish various linkages and connect the dots,’ the official said.

‘He was the Osama bin Laden of Pakistan,’ remarked a senior analyst. ‘Consider the damage his death would cause to his movement.’

The TTP has suffered major setbacks in Bajaur, Mohmand and Swat and the death of Baitullah will further dent its strength, the official said. ‘It may now longer be the TTP that we knew,’ he remarked.

Still some security officials warned it was too early to write off the TTP. ‘You will have to wait to see who succeeds Baitullah before making any presumptions. A lot will depend on the character of the man who steps into Baitullah’s shoes. There will be call for blood and revenge from the rank and file of the Taliban and then he will also have to establish his credentials and leadership. So there may be some fireworks in the offing,’ one official remarked.
 
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Taliban Swatter



Three heads of the same monster - spot on, however; one of these is doing the thinking and deciding, the other two (Afghan and Pakistan Talib) these are muscle. Unmentioned is a fourth head it is the Taliban of Southern Punjab.
 
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Editorial: Deadly Tehreek-e-Taliban Punjab

After the capture of some key Taliban members in the
aftermath of Baitullah Mehsud’s death, security agencies have been able to make unprecedented discoveries. The latest is the arrest of seven terrorists in Sargodha, including a person identified as “chief of Tehreek-e-Taliban Punjab”. They were ready to implement their plot “to blow up several police stations, towers of different cellular companies, the imambargah in Chiniot and textile mills in Faisalabad, during Ramazan”.

The police knew where to find them and, after the arrest of the six, may know, as a result of “interrogation”, where to find the rest of the Punjab franchise of the Taliban terror. A day earlier, the Karachi police equally knew where to find seven Lashkar-e-Jhangvi terrorists making ready to blow up some landmarks in the port city. The explosive material and suicide jackets found on them could have sufficed to start a mini-war in Karachi. Tellingly, they had heroin with them, linking them to the Al Qaeda-Taliban payment network
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Lashkar-e-Jhangvi has become a blanket term just as Sipah-e-Sahaba had in the 1990s. It is today the organisation whose handiwork has been owned by the late Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud. The Lashkar remains based in South Punjab and some of its big jobs are planned in Jhang, as in the case of the attack on the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad. In Multan, its big leaders like Akram Lahori are under trial in a court which is said to be ready to let them go because the eye-witnesses keep on dying mysteriously, a fate that might visit the judges too if they are not careful.

These are the Taliban of Punjab, in some ways more lethal than the Taliban of South Waziristan and other tribal regions. They have been trained by Al Qaeda and they have enjoyed, for decades, the patronage of the Pakistani state as its non-state actors for jihad in Kashmir. They also predate the Taliban in the art and craft of terrorism, having done it across two borders in what was called low-intensity or proxy war. Anyone who fools himself by saying that Punjab is free of the Taliban must surely be unaware of the damage he is doing to the state of Pakistan by holding and articulating such views.

The interior minister, Rehman Malik, may be aware of what he is up against. South Punjab is a tough nut to crack because this is where the nursery of non-state actors was first sown. He has seen the chief of one organisation — accused by the entire world of fomenting trouble in India — being let off; he might yet see Akram Lahori released for “lack of evidence”. And he may dream fruitlessly of bringing to trial the leader of Jaish-e-Muhammad, “hiding” in full public view, in a South Punjab city.

Mr Rehman was not without knowledge about the coming revelations about South Punjab. On June 27, 2009, he had told the London-based Financial Times, “We suspect something similar to Swat may arise in South Punjab”. He had added: “You know Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Jaish-e-Muhammad...all those people basically hail from that area. What we suspect is perhaps all those terrorists who fled from Waziristan or Swat might take refuge in south Punjab”. He didn’t fully realise that South Punjab was already well supplied with its own terrorists.

South Punjab terrorism is big business and it can be run with remote control. It is also safe because the Punjabis either don’t want to know about the terrorism buried in their guts or wish to remain in denial. But the JUI of Maulana Fazlur Rehman has made a bid for this bonanza by backing the Waliur Rehman Mehsud faction in the post-Baitullah Taliban infighting. Waliur Rehman as the new Taliban leader has sworn allegiance to Al Qaeda, designated President Obama as “enemy number one” and, more importantly, pledged more attacks inside Pakistan.

South Punjab is a trophy that may spell defeat for Pakistan but may yet be too heavy for the JUI to lift. This is a bride waiting for its bridegroom in the person of Osama bin Laden. The region is in the grip of a truce between feudal landlords and big madrassa-based clerics who once mass-produced non-state actors. And the writ of the state is weak in the face of this fear-based truce
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Beware! TTP. and Alqaeda is still promising to get back favor with exploitation of Anti-American thinking in General public.
 
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Taliban Swatter



Three heads of the same monster - spot on, however; one of these is doing the thinking and deciding, the other two (Afghan and Pakistan Talib) these are muscle. Unmentioned is a fourth head it is the Taliban of Southern Punjab.

What you call zoinist ,neo cons ? are they doves of peace:lol:
 
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Taliban Swatter



Three heads of the same monster - spot on, however; one of these is doing the thinking and deciding, the other two (Afghan and Pakistan Talib) these are muscle. Unmentioned is a fourth head it is the Taliban of Southern Punjab.

Sure - you hit the nail on the head. The one entity I'd forgot to mention is the Salafi Arab network in the Gulf that serves as the think tank mothership for Al Qaeda, in addition to providing the funding and ideological support to the TTP and Afghan Taliban muscle on the ground.
 
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Sure - you hit the nail on the head. The one entity I'd forgot to mention is the Salafi Arab network in the Gulf that serves as the think tank mothership for Al Qaeda, in addition to providing the funding and ideological support to the TTP and Afghan Taliban muscle on the ground.

I dont agree TTP and Afghan talaban are under AlQaeda control ?

Yes they fought against USSR along with Pakistan and USA.
 
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no way
Afghanistan Taliban are not the same it use to be during Russian afghan war, too many Afghanis including former afghani soldiers trained by US join Taliban. Afghanistan Taliban was dead before 2004 but they were born again due to American booming civilians.
TTP had nothing to do with Afghanistan Taliban. Mullah Omar already told TTP to join them in Afghanistan and stop killing Pakistani. But TTP refuse.

Al Qaeda is dead .do n t u guys get it ,its name is use by US only to terrorize their own people to continue war. Al Qaeda appear in Iraq was enough propaganda for US to continue Iraq war.

They are different command structure and different goal.
 
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Yeah, the south Punjab Taliban network is deadly. I think that the nexus between the Punjab Taliban and the TTP is in the open, especially with the attacks at the Marriot Hotel in Islamabad, the Sri Lankan cricket team and the Manawan police training centre.


The Punjabi Taliban provide the Taliban from the tribal areas a haven and knowledge of the Punjab cities to carry out terror attacks). There have been instances where the evidence has pointed to Punjabi and tribal militants' involvement simultaeneously. Previously, apparently it was limited to just tribal militants and Punjabi Taliban groups sharing training camps and trainers in Afghanistan during the Taliban militia rule.

LJ of course is a major player with its radical and narrow interpretation of the Sunni doctrine and is acceptable to the Salafi taliban.
 
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Punjabi Taliban is no serious threat.With the kind of infrastructure Army have in Punjab..if situation becomes serious.Army would be able to take them out very quickly..plus so safe hideouts (mountains) for them inswat.
 
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Punjabi Taliban is no serious threat.With the kind of infrastructure Army have in Punjab..if situation becomes serious.Army would be able to take them out very quickly..plus so safe hideouts (mountains) for them inswat.

Punjab Taliban pose a threat because of the logistical and tactical support they extend to the TTP. Otherwise, there is very little chance of a "takeover" a la FATA/Malakand division style. And, no, we shouldn't ever need to send the army into south Punjab, the police followed by the Rangers should be competent enough to take them out.


Also, they don't need hideouts in Swat to run away... they rather opt to go to Waziristan by way of DI Khan from Bhakkar and Mianwali districts. (I'll look up a map and try posting it here so you can have an idea of the geography/terrain we are talking about when we speak of the South Punjab Taliban). In fact, when the government had first cracked down on Kashmiri jihadi organisations post-2002, hundreds of militants from Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan, Jaish-e-Mohammed and LJ fled to the Waziristan agencies. In fact, JD had temporarily discarded its headquarters in Bahawalpur for South Waziristan. And even LJ set up a new base in D.G. Khan, so that the organisation has easy access to both the tribal areas in Wazritsan as well as Punjab.
 
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Yeah, the south Punjab Taliban network is deadly. I think that the nexus between the Punjab Taliban and the TTP is in the open, especially with the attacks at the Marriot Hotel in Islamabad, the Sri Lankan cricket team and the Manawan police training centre.


The Punjabi Taliban provide the Taliban from the tribal areas a haven and knowledge of the Punjab cities to carry out terror attacks). There have been instances where the evidence has pointed to Punjabi and tribal militants' involvement simultaeneously. Previously, apparently it was limited to just tribal militants and Punjabi Taliban groups sharing training camps and trainers in Afghanistan during the Taliban militia rule.

LJ of course is a major player with its radical and narrow interpretation of the Sunni doctrine and is acceptable to the Salafi taliban.

LJ cant be named as punjabi talaban , they are only against Khuminisim , in fact Khunimini had links with US and jews ,recently Aljazira had shown documentry of Bush and Iranian top spritual leader meeting died recently due to cancer.

Muslim ummah has higher internal threat then from exterenal enimies.
 
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And as if this were not enough, he fired a grenade using RPG, perhaps to prove that he was comfortable with all kinds of weapons. One of his close associates described it as Hakeemullah’s 'favourite toy'.

He attracts a media circus but does he set out a rational plan for improving the lives of those arround him no he makes threats about caputuring Islamabad plays with his "toys" and drives arround for the cameras.

Interpersonal traits include glibness, superficial charm, a grandiose sense of self-worth, pathological lying, and the manipulation of others. The affective traits include a lack of remorse and/or guilt, shallow affect, a lack of empathy, and failure to accept responsibility. The lifestyle behaviors include stimulation-seeking behavior, impulsivity, irresponsibility, parasitic orientation, and a lack of realistic life goals

The new face of the taliban in pakistan, half terrorist/half politician and completley off his rocker.

Serial killers and politicians share traits
 
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Qaeda's Zawahri calls for Pakistani jihad

Al Qaeda's second-in-command on Friday accused the United States of leading a crusade to turn Pakistan into a divided nation and urged Pakistanis to join in a jihad to resist.

The tape from Ayman al-Zawahri, the second this month, comes after Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud was killed in a U.S. missile strike on Aug. 5.

It also comes after Pakistan's army went on the offensive in late April against an insurgency by al Qaeda allies, the Taliban, in Swat valley after the militants took over the district 120 km (80 miles) from Islamabad, raising fears for Pakistan's stability and the safety of its nuclear weapons.

"The war in the tribal areas and Swat is an integral part of the crusade on Muslims across the world," Zawahri said in the tape posted on an al Qaeda-linked website.

In the 22-minute video address entitled "Path of Doom" he reiterates comments made in July calling for Pakistanis to wage war against the American "crusaders" and the Pakistani army.

"There is no honour for us except through Jihad," Zawahri said.

"People of Pakistan ... back the jihad and mujahideen with your persons, wealth, opinion, expertise, information and prayers and by exhorting others to help them and preach their message."

Pakistan has been hit by a series of suicide bomb attacks over the past two years, launched by al Qaeda-linked militants fighting the government because of its support for the U.S.-led campaign against Islamist militancy.

Security forces have cleared most militants from the Swat valley and have also been attacking Mehsud's men in the South Waziristan region on the Afghan border.

The Taliban had been denying Mehsud's death for weeks, but on Monday two of his aides, Hakimullah Mehsud and Wali-ur-Rehman, confirmed their leader had been killed.

Some Afghan Taliban factions, which have bases in lawless Pashtun lands on the Pakistani side of the border, have argued against attacks in Pakistan, saying all fighters should concentrate on expelling Western forces from Afghanistan.

Western governments with forces in Afghanistan are watching to see if a new Pakistani Taliban leader would shift the focus from fighting the Pakistan government to supporting the Afghan insurgency.

Hakimullah, who led militants in the Khyber, Orakzai and Kurram ethnic Pashtun tribal regions, has been picked as the newoverall commander of the Pakistani Taliban.
 
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