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                        <title>The Express Tribune</title>
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			<title>TTP chief Hakimullah Mehsud is alive: Report</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/324902/ttp-leader-hakimullah-mehsud-is-alive</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/324902/ttp-leader-hakimullah-mehsud-is-alive#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 20 Jan 12 20:00:51 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[Independent sources confirm that Hakimullah Mehsud is alive and well in North Waziristan.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Hakimullah Mehsud, chief of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), is alive and safe, Dawn News reported late on Friday.

“Hakimullah is well and safe in North Waziristan… the news related to his killing in the drone attack carried out by the US military is incorrect,” an official source said. His claim was backed up by two independent sources, cited Dawn.

Mehsud, leader of one of the most potent Pakistan based Taliban groups, was reportedly killed in a January 12 drone strike. However, neither the US nor local officials could confirm he had been killed.

Pakistani and US sources said that Mehsud was not targeted in the drone strike, and one Pakistani source said: “He is alive. Hakimullah is alive.”

The TTP, though said that Mehsud was not even in the same district, and that their leader was safe.

Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly mentioned the date of the drone strike as June 12. The correction has been made.]]>
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			<title>Deadly drones: Hakimullah Mehsud is dead – again</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/321923/ttp-leader-hakimullah-mehsud-killed-in-drone-strike-report</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/321923/ttp-leader-hakimullah-mehsud-killed-in-drone-strike-report#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 15 Jan 12 14:45:14 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[iftikhar.firdous]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
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				<![CDATA[US media says TTP chief killed in Jan 12 drone attack; Pakistani officials refuse to confirm or deny.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[If one is to believe the American media, Hakimullah Mehsud, the young, ferocious chief of banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), is dead – again.

Hakimullah ‘might have been killed’ in a drone strike that took place on January 12 in the Datta Khel area of North Waziristan Agency that had targeted a vehicle, killing six people, according to the US media.

Pakistani officials aren’t sure about Hakimullah’s death – but TTP says he’s alive.

It’s not the first time Hakimullah has been reported dead. In 2010, Pakistani and US officials had claimed that the TTP chief was killed in a drone strike in Waziristan. But a few days later TTP released a video showing Hakimullah alive.

About the Jan 12 drone strike, Pakistani intelligence officials said they had intercepted militant radio communications indicating that Hakimullah may have been killed.

“It is not yet 100 per cent sure that Hakimullah was killed but we are investigating the matter,” the officials told The Express Tribune.

However, the newly appointed TTP spokesperson for South Waziristan, Asimullah Asim, denied the reported death of his group’s chief, claiming that Hakimullah was not in the area where the drone strike had hit.

“Our Ameer (chief) is very much alive and in full contact with his men,” he told The Express Tribune by phone from somewhere in the tribal belt.

However, a resident of the area where the drone strike had occurred said that Hakimullah was present in the region at the time of the drone strike.

Reports of Hakimullah’s death come at a time when ‘secret talks’ between Pakistani security agencies and TTP factions had entered a decisive phase.

Publicly, the military denies having any talks with the militants.

Senior TTP leaders have also confirmed that covert talks with the military establishment were taking place.

Asimullah Asim, however, denied any peace dialogue with Pakistani security officials. Sources say the government is not talking to Hakimullah and his diehard followers.

Security officials confirmed that the military was rigorously chasing Hakimullah and his group into the Shawal Valley on the border between South and North Waziristan.

(With additional input from agencies)

Published in The Express Tribune, January 16th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Top Pakistan Taliban commanders 'at each other's throats'</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/315970/top-pakistan-taliban-commanders-at-each-others-throats</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/315970/top-pakistan-taliban-commanders-at-each-others-throats#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 03 Jan 12 13:21:23 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[reuters]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
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				<![CDATA[Any division within the TTP could hinder the Afghan Taliban, al Qaeda's struggle in Afghanistan against the US.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Al Qaeda, the Afghan Taliban and Pakistani militants have held a series of meetings aimed at containing what could soon be open warfare between the two most powerful Pakistani Taliban leaders, militant sources have said.

Hakimullah Mehsud, the head of the Pakistani Taliban, also known as the Tehreek-i-Taliban (TTP), and his deputy, Waliur Rehman, were at each other's throats, the sources said.

"You will soon hear that one of them has eliminated the other, though hectic efforts are going on by other commanders and common friends to resolve differences between the two," one TTP commander said.

Any division within the TTP could hinder the Afghan Taliban and al Qaeda's struggle in Afghanistan against the United States and its allies, making it more difficult to recruit young fighters and disrupting safe havens in Pakistan used by the Afghan militants.

Despite multiple reports of the Rehman-Mehsud split, Rehman told Reuters on Tuesday there was no problem between the two.

"There are no differences between us," Rehman said.

The TTP, formed in 2007, is an umbrella group of various Pakistani militant factions operating in Pakistan's unruly northwestern tribal areas along the porous border with Afghanistan.

It has long struggled with its choice of targets. Some factions are at war with the Pakistani state while others concentrate on the fight against the United States and its allies in Afghanistan.

There has been a noticeable decrease in militant attacks in Pakistan, but there continue to be random acts of violence across the country.

Al Qaeda and Afghan Taliban commanders are asking the TTP to provide more men for the fight in Afghanistan and are looking to smooth over the dispute between Mehsud and Rehman.

Long-standing feuds

Taliban sources said Rehman had ordered his fighters to kill Mehsud because of his increasing closeness with al Qaeda and its Arab contingent.

Mehsud's former deputy has also alleged the TTP chief received money from Pakistan's arch-rival, India, to kill a former Pakistan spy agency official acting as a mediator between the Pakistani Taliban, Afghan insurgents and the Pakistani government.

The reported enmity between Mehsud and Rehman is not the only conflict within the TTP ranks.

Mehsud has a long-standing feud with militant commanders Maulvi Nazeer in South Waziristan and Hafiz Gul Bahadur in North Waziristan, both of whom have non-aggression agreements with the Pakistani military.

Mehsud's men have also fought with the militia under the control of Fazal Saeed Haqqani, the former TTP head in the Kurram tribal region. He has accused Mehsud of killing his commanders and innocent people and kidnapping for ransom.

Haqqani, who is close to the militant Afghan Haqqani network, broke away from the TTP last year.

A pamphlet distributed by militants in North Waziristan this week announced the formation of a council to try to resolve the conflicts.

"All jihadi forces have jointly, on the recommendation of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, formed a five-member commission which will be known as the Shura Muraqba," the pamphlet said, using the term by which the Afghan Taliban describe themselves.

"The Shura Muraqba will be working to resolve differences and problems between mujahideen."

It said that any “mujahideen” found to have committed an "unlawful" killing or kidnapping would be punished under Islamic law. It is likely any attack on a fellow “mujahideen” commander would be considered "unlawful".

"All mujahideen should respect the decisions of the council that has been set up," a senior commander of the Haqqani faction in Kurram said.

"If people continue to do as they like, the situation will not improve. Things will instead get much worse."]]>
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			<title>'Secret' talks with Taliban reach decisive phase</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/315793/secret-talks-with-taliban-reach-decisive-phase</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/315793/secret-talks-with-taliban-reach-decisive-phase#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 03 Jan 12 04:26:37 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[zia.khan]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
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			<description>
				<![CDATA[While military denies dialogue, key TTP leaders confirm negotiations.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[‘Secret talks’ between Pakistan’s security agencies and the local Taliban – who have reportedly splintered down into many different groups – have entered a decisive phase.

Now both sides are hoping their negotiations will culminate in a ‘lasting’ agreement which will restore peace in the country’s lawless tribal lands.

“We have drawn the broader outlines for a possible accord. And what we’re now working on are minor details,” said an intelligence official, who claimed the results of the ‘year-long’ peace process would be unveiled shortly.

“Unlike the past, we are trying to have something workable and implementable this time around,” said the official referring to the failure of all three agreements the security institutions had had with the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

“These are crucial times …we have to be extremely careful. A slight miscalculation can harm us in a big way,” the official, requesting anonymity, added in an apparent reference to changes in the regional war given the eventual withdrawal of the US-led international forces by 2014.

The spokesperson for the Pakistan Army did not respond to phone calls or text message to comment on this development. Publicly, the military denies having any talks with the militants.

Senior TTP associates also confirmed that these covert talks with the military establishment were reaching a climax and said there were several indications of things moving ahead.

Last month, sources added, TTP leader Maulvi Waliur Rehman Mehsud had ordered to halt the training of suicide bombers at several camps in South and North Waziristan.

“Now look how effective this thing alone is … it has never happened in four years that the TTP stops training its suicide bombers,” said Raqeebullah Mehsud, a young militant commander from the Ludha area of South Waziristan.

TTP and the deflections

Raqeebullah said TTP chief Hakimullah Mehsud was not aware of these talks and he, along with a core group following his hard-line positions on talks with the government, was aware of these negotiations.

“He [Hakimullah] is out. At least people here think so,” Raqeebullah commented.

A security official also confirmed that the military was now rigorously chasing Hakimullah and his small group, into the Shawal Valley on the border between South and North Waziristan.

Though it could not be confirmed, some officials said the TTP chief might have crossed into Afghanistan after sudden defections of his loyalists to pro-Pakistan militant groups who were against launching attacks in the country’s mainland.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 3rd, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Twilight of the Taliban: TTP buckles under internal fissures, external pressure</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/308623/twilight-of-the-taliban-ttp-buckles-under-internal-fissures-external-pressure</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/308623/twilight-of-the-taliban-ttp-buckles-under-internal-fissures-external-pressure#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 19 Dec 11 08:37:19 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[zia.khan]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
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			<description>
				<![CDATA[With chain of comman­ds crumbl­ing and funds dwindl­ing, the militi­a appear­s to be in disarr­ay.]]>
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				<![CDATA[The twilight of the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) – an outlawed umbrella of militant groups – appears to have set in.


The group responsible for most violence in the country is in disarray with its ‘chain of command’ crumbling, funds dwindling and infighting intensifying, admit Taliban foot soldiers.

“It appears the TTP’s days are numbered … what was a well-coordinated militia just a year ago has fragmented now and dozens of splinters groups have emerged,” a disgruntled member of the network told The Express Tribune.

At least two associates of the group in South Waziristan, the strongest bastion of TTP where its chief Hakimullah Mehsud is hiding, also confirmed this.

They said Mehsud has further isolated himself due to threats to his life from the dreaded American drones and Pakistani spy agencies.

“He is virtually a lonely man running for his life … he is always on the move and doesn’t meet even his once most-trusted lieutenants,” said Muhammad, a nom de guerre because the militants seldom use their real names.

Muhammad, who lives in the North Waziristan tribal region, was in Islamabad for the treatment of some kidney ailment at a private clinic. Mehsud has stopped meeting members of his notorious network from Punjab, better known as Punjabi Taliban, suspecting that some of them might be spying on him for Pakistani agencies.

“This is one of the reasons for relative peace in the country … there is no coordination among various groups of the Taliban,” said an intelligence official. There has been a visible decline in the Taliban violence in the country over the past few months.

The TTP associates said that their group was crumbling due to differences on the question of pursuing peace talks with the government — an option Mehsud had rejected outright when he was first approached with the offer.

One the other hand, several key TTP leaders have responded positively to peace overtures from the Pakistani agencies. TTP’s deputy chief in South Waziristan Mufti Waliur Rehman and the group’s No 2, Maulvi Faqir Muhammad from Bajaur Agency, are reportedly in talks with the government, indirectly though. Officially, both the government and the TTP deny peace talks.

Muhammad claimed that several members of the TTP shura, or decision-making council, have also showed willingness for talks. He added that the shura, which once had around three dozen senior leaders, has now shrunk to less than 10.

“People are now deserting Mehsud and joining the group led by Waliur Rehman,” he said, adding that the latter’s group is becoming more powerful.

No more money 

Apart from differences within, supply of foot soldiers to the TTP is also drying up fast, said Muhammad who himself has given up violence to start a small business in his village.

“They (foot soldiers) are deserting because it no longer earns them money,” said Raqeebullah Mehsud, a former TTP field commander.

Intelligence officials are claiming the credit for the TTP’s imminent collapse, saying it was their squeeze that had played a key role in blocking funds supply to the Taliban. But experts like Brigadier (Retd) Muhammad Saad believe that TTP’s inability to generate money might be the result of what has been happening behind closed doors in Afghanistan in the recent past.

“There have been reports that the Afghan Taliban are actively engaged in peace talks,” he added.

Saad said that the war in Afghanistan was the main source of funds for the TTP “but it may not be the case anymore”.

But Brigadier (Retd) Mehmood Shah, another security analyst based in Peshawar, said it won’t be fair to deny the Pakistani agencies credit for the isolation and subsequent rupture in the ranks of the TTP.

“Much of this happened due to their (Pakistani agencies) maneuvers,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 19th, 2011.

Correction: Due to an editing error, an earlier version of the story mentioned Baitullah Mehsud as the current TTP chief. The current chief is Hakimullah Mehsud. ]]>
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			<title>On the run with Pakistan's Taliban</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/307047/on-the-run-with-pakistans-taliban</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/307047/on-the-run-with-pakistans-taliban#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 15 Dec 11 08:08:57 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[afp]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
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				<![CDATA[Reporter takes a tantalising glimpse of the day-to-day life of a group of Pakistani Taliban in North Waziristan.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[Nothing terrifies Pakistani Taliban fighter Tariq Wazir more than US drones, a harbinger of instant death invisible to the naked eye and proof of America's mastery of the skies.

Each time he hears the low hum reminiscent of a bumble bee, fear clutches his heart and he remembers how 20 of his comrades were pulverised by missiles they never saw coming in Pakistan's tribal areas.

Gone are the days of communicating by phone and travelling freely. Instead he spends his days praying or reading newspapers in safe houses, moving under the cover of darkness, trying to keep one step ahead and stay alive.

An AFP reporter was this week given a tantalising glimpse of the day-to-day life of a group of Pakistani Taliban, travelling with them for four days between safe houses in North Waziristan.

He and three other journalists were invited to interview the head of the faction, Hakimullah Mehsud, or “another top Taliban leader” but the interview never materialised, due to what the Taliban said were “security reasons”.

Instead, they spent each night on the move, resting by day in relatively comfortable mud-brick homes with kitchens, running water and toilets, offered freshly cooked meals and fizzy drinks.

It was a relatively sophisticated logistics operation that shows how embedded the Taliban are in North Waziristan, where the Pakistani military has resisted US pressure to launch a sweeping offensive.

Their fervour for fighting and hatred of the United States and the US-allied Pakistani government was plain to see.

But so too were lighter moments, like sunning themselves in the courtyard, reading the Urdu newspapers to keep abreast of events and listening to songs praising the glory of jihad blasted out of cassette players.

In the past three years, there have been 236 US drone strikes in Pakistan, killing at least 1,767 people. Taliban foot soldiers admit they have had a devastating impact on their lives.

“I lost 20 close friends in drone attacks. It's the biggest danger for us,” said Wazir, a commander in North Waziristan who refuses to give his real name.

“It has restricted our movement. We take a lot of care before moving from one place to other, we avoid using the phone,” he said.

Precautions have not been relaxed despite a one-month reprieve in missile strikes since November 17.

The Long War Journal quoted US intelligence officials as saying the attacks are “on hold” so as not to further strain the alliance with Islamabad after a Nato air strike killed 24 Pakistani soldiers on November 26.

In response, Pakistan shut its Afghan border to Nato supplies and evicted US personnel from the Shamsi air base, a reported hub for CIA drones, although most of the aircraft are thought to take off from US bases in Afghanistan.

Pakistani officials concur there is a temporary moratorium on drone attacks, but witnesses say surveillance flights are incessant.

The Taliban fighters wear the uniform of any adult man in the tribal belt. They carry Kalashnikovs wherever they go, tuck pistols into their belts and sometimes sport hand grenades around their waists.

Dressed in traditional shirts that fall to the knees, caps rolled down over the ears, waistcoats and balloon-style trousers, they conceal their guns under the itchy folds of the blankets wrapped around the head and shoulders.

Aged mostly 22 to 42, all of them were bearded and Ameer Sahib – a mark of respect – was a common name for each other, at least in the presence of reporters.

At dusk, they were on the move, driving down lesser known tracks away from the prying eyes of informers. They picked their way gingerly, without lights. Hand torches can be used, but only in an emergency – and then only briefly.

They sought shelter in one-storey mud homes, where blankets and old Afghan carpets provide a modicum of warmth. Women and children were never seen.

The fighters prepared their own food, collecting firewood from the mountains and sipping on green tea, offering the Mountain Dew soft drink to guests.

Halwa, a local sweet, was served on arrival. Dinners were generous helpings of beef, mutton or chicken, served up with rice, potatoes and vegetables.

Dried fruits and nuts are a popular snack, peanuts and cashews a particular favourite.

Looking through the newspaper, the Taliban pounced with delight on Iran's claim to have shot down the bat-winged RQ-170 Sentinel stealth drone.

“See how Iran forced it to land! Why can't our government do this?” said one. “They are getting dollars, they have sold the whole of Pakistan to the Americans,” replied a second militant.

Their hatred of the government stems from Islamabad's fractious alliance with Washington.

Pakistan has adopted a more aggressive tone towards Washington as relations have gone into free fall since a covert American raid in May killed Osama bin Laden, which some commentators have linked to a decline in militant attacks.

“Whenever Pakistan has tensions with America, we see calm here,” smiled Wazir, a nod also to the let-up in drone strikes.

Several of the fighters told AFP that militancy runs in the family.

Habibur Rehman Mehsud, who said he had survived two drone strikes, said his father and uncle died fighting the Soviets in the mid-1980s in Afghanistan.

His entire family fled a Pakistani military offensive in 2009.

“It’s a reality that drones are the major threat to us but it is also a reality that Pakistan provided all the information to the Americans,” he said.

Mujeebur Rehman, 25, another Taliban fighter, said he lost his elder brother in a drone strike in the Mir Ali area of Waziristan in 2010.

Abdul Salam, who comes from near Miranshah, the capital of North Waziristan, said his brother, younger sister and father were killed by a drone in 2009.

He said he wanted to go to Afghanistan and fight against the Americans who killed his family. “My basic duty is to fight jihad. Avenging my family comes second.”]]>
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			<title>‘Mullah Omar is pushing TTP to reconcile with govt’</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/297912/%e2%80%98mullah-omar-is-pushing-ttp-to-reconcile-with-govt%e2%80%99</link>
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			<pubDate>Fri, 25 Nov 11 23:38:52 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[zia.khan]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
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				<![CDATA[Advises Sirajuddin Haqqani to mediate between the two, say Taliban associates.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[Afghan Taliban supreme commander Mullah Muhammad Omar is pushing Pakistani militants based in the tribal areas to strike a peace deal with the government and has advised the chief of the Haqqani network to mediate between them.


“We have received a message from Ameerul-Momineen that there should be an end to our activities inside Pakistan …he wants us to make peace with the government and focus on Afghanistan against infidels,” a Taliban associate said.

This was confirmed to The Express Tribune over the past week by at least two other members of the terror group based in South Waziristan, as well as a couple of tribal elders privy to the ongoing talks between the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the government.

However, none of them wanted to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter.

Meeting between Afghan, Pakistani militants

It was not clear when and how the elusive leader of the Afghan Taliban had sent his message.

At least two Taliban affiliates, one in Miramshah, North Waziristan and the other in Wana, South Waziristan, said that communication between representatives of Mullah Omar and Pakistani militants took place in an Arab country this Ramazan.

But a tribal elder, who claimed to be in the know of the ongoing talks, said that the son of a slain Afghan militant leader came to Waziristan as Mullah Omar’s representative.

The young messenger, he added, travelled from Kandahar to South Waziristan, the stronghold of the TTP, immediately after Ramazan and held meetings with members of a powerful shura that takes policy decisions for Pakistani militant groups.

Both the tribal leader and militant group’s insiders were, however, not sure if the representative of the Afghan Taliban fugitive head also met TTP chief Hakimullah Mehsud, who has been in hiding for almost a year now.

In the neighbouring North Waziristan agency, Mullah Omar’s message for peace with Pakistan and its security forces has also been making rounds for some time now.

The network’s associates from Mirali town said that the group’s chief, Sirajuddin Haqqani, had been advised by Mullah Omar, whom he called his spiritual leader, to use his influence over the TTP to help broker the peace deal.

Military, intelligence deny reports of talks

It emerged over the last weekend that Pakistan security forces and the homegrown Taliban were holding talks to end an almost a decade old conflict in the country’s tribal areas.

Follow-up reports this week suggested that both sides had already covered ‘significant ground’ and were close to an agreement.

However, the Pakistani military immediately issued a strong denial, with the Taliban also rejecting the claim, although they earlier said that a truce was in place to pave way for talks.

In September, Pakistan’s top political and military leadership expressed desire to open peace talks with its ‘own people’ operating from the country’s tribal areas.

Since almost half a year now, Pakistani cities have been relatively calm and life is slowly returning to normalcy after years of violent attacks by the homegrown Taliban.

Experts like journalist Fida Khan, who has been covering militancy for a Japanese publication for more than a decade now, believes that this calm itself is an indication of something significant happening away from the media limelight.

“But all this will remain fragile for sometime unless something concrete happens and a slight mistake can blow things into a bigger conflict,” Khan feared.

‘Move by the Taliban to voluntarily end war will be welcomed’.

Meanwhile, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said on Friday that Pakistan will not initiate a dialogue with the local Taliban unless they lay down their arms and give up terrorism.

A move by the Taliban to voluntarily end war will be welcomed, Malik said at a press briefing along with UK Home Secretary Theresa May.

(Read: Talking to the terrorists)

ADDITIONAL INPUT FROM APP

Published in The Express Tribune, November 26th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Negotiating with the Taliban: The attacks are on, but so are talks</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/296758/negotiating-with-the-taliban-the-attacks-are-on-but-so-are-talks</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/296758/negotiating-with-the-taliban-the-attacks-are-on-but-so-are-talks#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 24 Nov 11 04:22:19 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[zia.khan]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=296758</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[TTP shura has spelt out conditions for a peace agreement with the government.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The Taliban may not have declared a ceasefire, as Wednesday’s attack on a Dera Ismail Khan police station would show, but they are talking to the government, reports suggest, despite vehement denials from all sides.


Affiliates close to Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan deputy chief Waliur Rehman Mehsud, and officials of security agencies told The Express Tribune here on Wednesday that peace talks between the two sides have been going on for some time now.

In fact, sources add, a TTP shura, or decision-making council, has spelt out conditions for a peace agreement with the government where they would cease unilateral attacks on security forces, but not lay down their weapons.

The Taliban, however, have been moving back and forth on the issue. A top commander on Tuesday said a ceasefire had been in place for more than a month to give time for negotiations but their spokesperson thrashed it the next day when TTP fighters attacked a police station in Dera Ismail Khan.

The military also issued a strong denial after reports of peace negotiations surfaced over the weekend.

“Several initial hurdles have been crossed and negotiations are at an advanced level … we have already entered into a make-or-break stage,” said a security official privy to the talks taking place through local tribesmen, religious leaders based in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Karachi and some members from the Saudi royal family.

The demands

A list of demands has already been handed over to government’s emissaries, including at least one parliamentarian from the area belonging to a religious group and highly respected among Taliban ranks, individuals close to TTP deputy chief said.

According to them, the Taliban have offered to cease attacks on Pakistan Army, if they are not attacked, but have refused to deweaponise, a pre-condition to peace talks set by Interior Minister Rehman Malik.

The TTP also wants the government to release several dozen detained activists currently in custody of Pakistani security agencies, sources added.

The militant group would not have any objection to the presence of Pakistan military either in the North Waziristan region or the Wazir tribe-populated areas of the south, including Wana – the agency’s headquarters, another TTP insider said.

The shura has also demanded compensation for those killed during the military operation in South Waziristan and reconstruction of damaged houses.

What about Mehsud?

It is not clear, however, if TTP’s fugitive chief Hakimullah Mehsud was also part of these negotiations.

An affiliate of the deputy chief said the shura held more than three meetings in the mountains of Shawal, a thick forest at the border of North and South Waziristan.

Hakimullah did not attend any of those meetings, sources said.

There have been reports in the past that Mehsud is fast losing control over the group he once led absolutely, and Rehman, whom the TTP leader appointed as commander for South Waziristan back in 2009, is gradually replacing him as the new chief.

Security officials working in the area have long concluded that Mehsud is aligned with al Qaeda’s hard line ideology and is no longer reconcilable.

The security establishment, on the other hand, has always been ‘positive’ about prospects of striking a peace deal with Rehman, who follows the Deobandi school of thought, compared to al Qaeda’s hardline Salafi school.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 24th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Guarded response: Taliban hint at accepting Saudis as peace brokers</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/270696/guarded-response-taliban-hint-at-accepting-saudis-as-peace-brokers</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/270696/guarded-response-taliban-hint-at-accepting-saudis-as-peace-brokers#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 10 Oct 11 05:29:55 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[zia.khan]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=270696</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Commander of the group says implementation of a peace deal must be ‘guaranteed’ beforehand.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The banned conglomerate of militant groups, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), will seek mediation by countries like Saudi Arabia, if the government offers them peace talks — a top militant leader of the banned outfit said in a ‘cautious’ response to Pakistan’s  earlier decision to open negotiations with the group.


At the All Parties Conference (APC), the country’s top political and military leaders decided last month to initiate peace negotiations with the militant groups active in the country’s lawless tribal badlands, including the TTP.

The decision – apparently reflecting a significant shift in Pakistan’s war on terror policy – came in the wake of allegations by top defence officials of the United States that the country’s top spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), was nurturing the deadly Haqqani network of Afghan militants allegedly based in North Waziristan.

“We will see. Our shura (council) will decide whether and when can we enter into talks with the government, with the military…but I think we will like to involve countries we trust…they are in the Arab world. Let’s say Saudi Arabia,” said Maulvi Waliur Rehman Mehsud.

Wali – second-in-command to TTP fugitive chief Hakimullah Mehsud – was responding to questions sent to him by The Express Tribune.

“Till now, we don’t have any direct peace offer…our shura will sit down when we are approached. That is how we operate. There is one centralised body to take important decisions,” he added but did not mention who were the members of the council or who heads it.

But according to recent media reports, Sheikh Khalid – a militant leader hailing from Mardan district of Khyber-Pukhtunkhwa – was leading the shura. But it is understood that in most cases, Hakimullah himself takes the final decisions.

The APC had decided that the proposed dialogue would not be spearheaded either by the government or the military alone but a ‘national institutionalised mechanism’ might be developed for that.

A participant of the APC then told The Express Tribune that the new mechanism might be based on the pattern of the High Peace Council (HPC) Afghan President Hamid Karzai had set up last year to reach out to the insurgents.

“It would not be exactly the same but is likely to have striking similarities.

Parliament and the politicians will have a central role in it,” he said.

Meanwhile, Wali said that the TTP wanted a ‘guarantee’ that once the deal is struck, it will be enforced.

Both Pakistan officials and the militant groups blame each other for dishonouring three such agreements they had made in the past. However, Wali did not point an accusing finger at either the Pakistani government or the military this time.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 10th, 2011.

______________________________________________

[poll id="526"]]]>
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			<title>‘Isolated Hakimullah losing control of TTP’</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/202634/%e2%80%98isolated-hakimullah-losing-control-of-ttp%e2%80%99</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/202634/%e2%80%98isolated-hakimullah-losing-control-of-ttp%e2%80%99#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 05 Jul 11 03:56:40 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[zia.khan]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=202634</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Signs of growing friction within the terror group more apparent.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Chief of the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Hakimullah Mehsud has been in isolation for more than a year and is rapidly losing control over the terror group he once led with absolute command and authority, his associates and intelligence officials said.


Insiders of the dreaded militant outfit in the country’s lawless tribal badlands and intelligence officials in Islamabad told The Express Tribune that Hakimullah might soon be faced with more rebels from within the TTP after last week’s defection by one of his top commanders.

Fazal Saeed Haqqani, who was appointed by Hakimullah for the strategic Kurram tribal region, announced to separate his group of more than 1,000 fighters from the main outfit in what appeared to be the first serious fracture for the TTP.

The defection took place within days after unknown attackers killed a spokesperson for the TTP’s Fidayeen-e-Islam group – the suicide bombing squad.

The killing of Shakirullah Shakir, a key figure of the TTP, in Mirali town of North Waziristan has raised questions over how influential Hakimullah still is in the region.

“It was like a slap on the face for him. Nobody could have imagined such things here sometime back,” a tribal source commented on the murder, which is still unsolved.

A day after Haqqani’s announcement to split, a group of the Taliban from Khyber Agency attacked their counterparts from Orakzai in what appeared to be another sign of growing friction within the TTP and lack of a centralised and coordinated leadership.

“All these incidents are just the tip of the iceberg. There may be a series of challenges for him … you will see more of his boys turning against him and this is exactly what we desired and have been working on,” claimed an official, who deals with counter-terror operations in the tribal areas, while choosing to stay anonymous. His comments were verified by some of Hakimullah’s associates.

“It looks as though he is just a figurehead now. He can hardly communicate with his commanders in other parts of the tribal areas … he is in total isolation. Only a few people within the TTP know where he is,” said one of Hakimullah’s affiliates.

Although Pakistani military officials claimed credit for Hakimullah’s isolation, tribal sources said it was more likely due to fears of being hit by drones rather than anything else.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 5th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Terror market: ‘TTP sold suicide bomber to Afghan militants’</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/201828/insurgents-bought-suicide-bomber-from-pakistan-taliban-afghan-spy-agency</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/201828/insurgents-bought-suicide-bomber-from-pakistan-taliban-afghan-spy-agency#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 04 Jul 11 02:14:11 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[reuters]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=201828</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Sher Hassan was sent by the Haqqani network, says Afghanistan's official intelligence agency.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Afghanistan’s intelligence agency said on Sunday that a senior commander from the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) sold a suicide bomber to an Afghan militant network to attack a local commander in eastern Afghanistan.


The National Directorate of Security (NDS), Afghanistan’s official intelligence agency, said the bomber was a Pakistani national and was detained by NDS agents in Jaji Maidan district of Afghanistan’s eastern Paktia province before he could carry out his mission.

Sher Hassan was sent by the Haqqani network, considered one of the most dangerous insurgent groups fighting in Afghanistan, but had not signed up to join them, the NDS said in a statement. Instead, he said he was bought by the group to target “Azizullah”, a commander whose affiliation and rank were not given by the NDS. Hassan then spent  a month after he was sold, training with the Haqqani network.

“The detained man added that a commander under TTP leader Hakimullah Mehsud sells suicide bombers at Rs6 million to Rs8 million to the Haqqani network for suicide missions,” the statement said. But it did not say what price Hassan had fetched nor how he had been detained.

The Haqqani network, led by Jalaluddin Haqqani, is allied with the Taliban but also believed to be closely linked to al Qaeda and the architect of several high-profile attacks in Afghanistan.

Effective daily management of the group has passed from Jalaluddin Haqqani, who forged his reputation fighting the Soviet occupation of the 1980s but is now thought to be ill, to his eldest son Sirajuddin.

Hassan’s detention comes days after a group of
suicide bombers staged a brazen attack on a landmark hotel in Kabul that killed at least 10 people.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 4th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Pakistani Taliban try to woo back ex-comrade</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/200398/pakistani-taliban-try-to-woo-back-ex-comrade</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/200398/pakistani-taliban-try-to-woo-back-ex-comrade#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 01 Jul 11 11:10:31 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[reuters]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=200398</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Fazal Saeed had defected from the Tehriki-i-Taliban Pakistan and formed a new group called Tehrik-i-Taliban Islami.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The Pakistani Taliban are trying to lure back a senior militant commander who recently quit the group because he controls strategic routes into Afghanistan and Pakistan and can block off militants' escape paths, his supporters said on Friday.

Analysts say last week's defection of Fazal Saeed, a Taliban leader in the Kurram region, is a serious blow to the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), blamed for many suicide bombings across the country.

Saeed's faction controls important roads used by both Pakistani and Afghan Taliban militants based in North Waziristan's tribal region for attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Saeed has now formed a new group called the Tehrik-i-Taliban Islami (TTI), comprising some 500 militants and is said to have close ties to Sirajuddin Haqqani, leader of the most brutal faction of the Afghan Taliban.

TTP chief Hakimullah Mehsud has sought help from Haqqani for a truce with Saeed, who quit the group to protest against what he called "brutal" attacks on civilians, militant sources said.

"A six-member delegation of Afghan commanders is meeting commander Saeed at the request of Hakimullah Mehsud to ask him to rejoin the group," a militant source close to Saeed told a group of reporters.

"They have asked him to open roads he has blocked for militant movements, which are import routes linking Pakistani tribal regions to Afghanistan," the militant source said.

Saeed said he intends to continue to attack US troops in Afghanistan.

A Reuters's reporter was part of a group of journalists who were to meet Saeed at his invitation, but the meeting had to be postponed because of the Mehsud delegation's visit.

A spokesman from the TTP was unavailable for comment.

Saeed has been at odds with Mehsud for several months over militant activities in his stronghold of lower Kurram but their ties deteriorated after one of Saeed's commanders was killed about a month and a half ago, his supporters say.

The roads Saeed controls are vitally important for Mehsud's men to reach other tribal regions, and to use as escape routes in case of a military operation in North Waziristan.

Kurram is one of seven tribal agencies, semi-autonomous ethnic Pashtun regions. Its roads are open to the Haqqani network, but not the TTP.

&nbsp;

The United States has long demanded that Pakistan attack the North Waziristan region to eliminate the Haqqani network.

Pakistan has been reluctant to do so but it has come under increased pressure after al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden was found and killed in Abboattabad by US special forces in May.

Pakistani forces have launched many offensives in the tribal areas against militants, but have failed to weaken their resolve as insurgents continue to attack the army in the northwest.

The Taliban have vowed to avenge Bin Laden's death and have stepped up attacks, including a bombing that killed 80 army recruits, a brazen attack on PNS Mehran naval airbase and an assault on a US consular vehicles in Peshawar.]]>
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			<title>Split in the TTP ranks</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/198054/split-in-the-ttp-ranks</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/198054/split-in-the-ttp-ranks#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 28 Jun 11 17:56:27 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[editorial]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=198054</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[This is the most opportune moment to sow seeds of rivalry, hatred and suspicion amongst the remaining leaders.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[There is the possibility of making too much of news reports that Fazal Saeed — the commander of the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in Kurram — and his men have split from the group and decided to go it alone. Saeed’s main point of contention was the spate of suicide bombings that the TTP have carried out, which explicitly targeted civilians. He feels they are morally unjustified as Islam forbids targeting Muslim civilians. But Saeed hasn’t given up the fight altogether. He says he will continue to work to establish sharia in Pakistan and fight the US in Afghanistan. Anything that weakens the TTP should be welcomed, but losing one commander will not have an appreciable impact on the TTP’s operations. The government should look at this as an opportunity to try and ferment further splits — an enemy divided will make a far easier opponent.

The split is also not all that surprising when you consider that Kurram is the only one of the seven tribal agencies that has a Shia majority population. One of the defining features of the militant groups that combined to form the TTP is that they are anti-Shia. Fazal Saeed, by associating with the TTP, would have found it harder to maintain his popularity and recruit supporters in Kurram, given that the TTP is a Sunni movement — expecting his split to be replicated in the other Sunni-majority tribal agencies is unrealistic.

The best way to engineer a permanent split in the Taliban is by dividing the top leadership. After former TTP chief Baitullah Mehsud was killed in a drone attack, there was a period of uncertainty before the new leader, Hakimullah Mehsud, was announced. This is the most opportune moment to sow seeds of rivalry, hatred and suspicion among those leaders hoping to become the new chief. For that, though, the government and the military need good intelligence, particularly in the form of informants and double agents within the TTP. Until they manage that, Fazal Saeed’s split will be little more than a one-off with no lasting consequences.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 29th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>TTP split in Kurram Agency: Taliban commander defects</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/197356/taliban-split-pakistan-warlord-defects-from-ttp</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/197356/taliban-split-pakistan-warlord-defects-from-ttp#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 28 Jun 11 04:35:49 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[zia.khan]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=197356</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Fazl Saeed’s defection appears to be aiding Haqqani’s quest to seek new sanctuaries.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[As the US prepares to get their feet off Afghan soil, the war theatre in Pakistan headed towards surprising twists with the Haqqani network seeking relocation to new strategic positions and the homegrown Taliban facing their first serious fracture in what appeared to be separate but coordinated manoeuvres.


A Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) commander of the Shia-dominated Kurram tribal region on Monday announced his separation from the main group in protest against bombings of mosques and civilians.

Fazl Saeed was appointed by TTP chief Hakimullah Mehsud as the group’s leader for Kurram – one of seven tribal regions located at the centre of Pakistan’s border badlands with direct access to Haqqani’s stronghold of North Waziristan and Afghanistan.

Although Fazl told a media conference in Kurram his move was a result of a chronic disagreement with the TTP main leadership’s policies, it appeared to be supplementing Haqqani’s quest to seek new sanctuaries in the region from where penetration into Afghanistan is easier than from anywhere else.

Saeed, who commands an estimated 2,500 to 3,000 militants, said he was founding a new organisation called Tehreek-i-Taliban Islami.

It was unclear what inspired this ‘change of heart’ but some locals said he might have done this to avert Pakistani military plans to launch an operation in central Kurram. However, there is no confirmation.

The move came after several years of efforts by the Pakistani security establishment as well as the Haqqani network’s elders to broker a truce between warring Sunni – backed by the TTP – and Shia tribes.

A peace agreement was finally reached early this year but the TTP continued to kill and kidnap Shias to sabotage the deal, earning rage from Sirajuddin Haqqani who once warned Hakimullah against such attempts.

Locals, who frequently travel to the area, said that some of Haqqani’s men had already been shifted to lower parts of Kurram which have been relatively peaceful over the years.

With the TTP main leader turning against the group, there won’t be any challenge for the Haqqani network to get a firm foothold in Kurram.

A couple of strikes last week by US-operated predators  inside Kurram – for the first time during the five-year drone campaign – appeared to be suggesting that the Haqqanis might have been planning to take over the region for their fresh offensive in Afghanistan.

In recent months, there has been increasing American pressure on the Pakistani military to go all out against the network that policymakers in Washington term the “deadliest on the planet earth”.

The Pakistani security apparatus has so far been resisting the pressure but insiders have said the situation has almost reached its boiling point with Americans saying they are running out of patience.

Recent reports suggested the plan to move parts of the Haqqani network to Kurram and Afghanistan might have been a strategic move before the Pakistani military goes into North Waziristan for an eyewash sort of operation.

There is popular opinion in Pakistan that the country’s security establishment would never abandon the network of Afghan militants who have been standing firm with it all the way since jihad in the war-torn country started in the early ‘80s.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 28th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Who are the Pakistani Taliban?</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/174280/who-are-the-pakistani-taliban</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/174280/who-are-the-pakistani-taliban#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 23 May 11 09:18:33 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[reuters]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=174280</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[The militants have shown time and again that they can inflict heavy casualties wherever they want.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Pakistani Taliban militants claimed responsibility on Monday for an attack on the headquarters of the naval air force, storming the base in the city of Karachi in their most brazen action since the killing of Osama bin Laden in a US raid.

The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which is allied with al Qaeda, said the attack was to avenge the al Qaeda leader's killing on May 2. Bin Laden was shot dead by US special forces in a secret operation that Pakistan says breached its sovereignty.

A militant spokesman said the assault proved the group was still "united and powerful". Following are some questions and answers about the Pakistani Taliban, their motives and capabilities.

Who are the Pakistani Taliban? 

The militants are mostly ethnic Pashtuns from the semi-autonomous tribal belt along the Afghan border where Pakistan and the United States poured in weapons in the 1980s to support militants, including Bin Laden, battling Soviet forces in Afghanistan.

There are different Taliban factions in places such as North and South Waziristan, Bajaur and Mohmand, united under the Pakistani Taliban banner. They have links with the Afghan Taliban, most of whom are fellow Pashtuns although the Afghan militants do not attack in Pakistan. The Pakistani Taliban have strong links with al Qaeda and militant factions from other parts of Pakistan, in particular Punjab province.

Pakistani Taliban have been providing training and other support to outside militants, including Westerners, in their strongholds.

What are they fighting for?

They are vehemently opposed to Pakistan's alliance with the United States in the campaign against militancy launched after the Sept 11, 2001, attacks. As Pakistan, under US pressure, stepped up operations against militants on the Afghan border, Pakistani Taliban attacks on the security forces picked up. They launched their war against Pakistan in earnest after security forces cleared gunmen from Lal Masjid Islamabad, in July 2007 with the loss of about 100 lives.

What are their methods? 

The militants have killed hundreds of pro-government Pashtun tribal leaders in the border lands, decimating traditional power networks through which the central government exerted control, and imposing their vision of Islamic rule.

While taking control of much of the tribal belt, the militants have repeatedly attacked the security forces in northwestern towns and cities with suicide bombers and ambushes. They have tried to expand their zones of influence and took control of the scenic Swat valley, northwest of Islamabad, before the military launched an offensive in 2009 to push them out.

What are their capabilities?

The militants have shown time and again that they can inflict heavy casualties wherever they want and they have the capability to launch sophisticated assaults on prime targets at the heart of the security establishment.

Prior to Monday's attack on the naval force headquarters, they attacked the army's headquarters in the city of Rawalpindi and a nearby mosque where many officers were praying. They have blown up buses carrying staff of the main Inter-Services Intelligence agency to work in Rawalpindi and set off car bombs outside several offices of the ISI and other security agencies in various cities including Lahore.

They have attacked military and police training facilities, with suicide bombers and gunmen, in several places in the northwest. They have attacked numerous military camps and the country's main defence industry complex. They have set off bombs in mosques where their rivals were praying and numerous gatherings of rival tribal elders.

They have attacked diplomatic missions, offices of the United Nations and aid groups, a visiting Sri Lankan cricket team and the shrines of moderate Sufis and members of rival sects.

The Pakistani Taliban have claimed responsibility for the assassination of numerous army officers over recent years and a Christian government minister this year. They were accused of killing former prime minister Benazir Bhutto in 2007, but they denied it.

What is their reach? 

While their activities have been almost entirely confined to Pakistan, they have shown an interest in expanding their range under the banner of al Qaeda.

A suicide bombing at a US base in Afghanistan's Khost province in 2009, carried out by a Jordanian national, killed seven Central Intelligence Agency employees.

In video footage released after the attack, the bomber was shown sitting with Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud, a stark illustration of growing links between the Pakistani insurgents and foreign militants.

A Pakistani-born American who tried to set off a car bomb in New York's Times Square last year told a court he got bomb-making training and funding from the Pakistani Taliban.]]>
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			<title>Taliban claim training 1,000 bombers at secret camps</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/151724/taliban-claim-training-1000-bombers-at-secret-camps</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/151724/taliban-claim-training-1000-bombers-at-secret-camps#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 18 Apr 11 03:20:22 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[zia.khan]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=151724</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[A purported Taliban associate says ‘we have three facilities exclusively for fidayeen’.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Pakistani Taliban have claimed that they are running three secret camps in South and North Waziristan tribal regions close to the Afghan border to train potential suicide bombers with their total strength exceeding 1,000.


“We have three facilities exclusively for fidayeen (suicide bombers). Each one has more than 350 men being trained in it,” a purported spokesperson for the little-known Fidayeen-e-Islam Group of the Taliban, told The Express Tribune from a secret location in North Waziristan.

The man, who identified himself as Shakirullah Shakir, added that the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) led by Hakimullah Mehsud had recently separated the operations of suicide bombers from the overall activities of the group.

“Fidayeen-e-Islam is a part of the overall chain of command of the TTP but it works separately and has its own structures,” Shakir said but gave little details of the working relationship between the mainstream Taliban leadership and the group handling suicide bombers.

The claim came on the heels of a statement by an alleged teenage suicide bomber who was arrested by the police at the Sakhi Hassan shrine in Dera Ghazi Khan after the vest he was wearing went off only partially, injuring him.

Omar told journalists later at a hospital that he was trained at a camp run by the Taliban with more than 300 people learning how to become the most lethal weapon.

Though there was no way to confirm the claim independently, Shakir said Omar was trained at one of three camps at Mirali town of North Waziristan and what he told the media about the number of under-training bombers was true.

“We own both Omer and his words,” the spokesperson added.

Shakir said one of the biggest camps was in Mirali in the North Waziristan, an agency security and intelligence officials believe was under the control of pro-Pakistan militant groups. He didn’t disclose the locations of two other facilities.

Of the more than 1,000 potential bombers, Shakirullah claimed, a few dozen had already been sent to hit their targets across Pakistan.

He did not say what their targets were but another Taliban associate said the most prominent personalities the terror network now wanted to hit were politicians, some selected people from the media and individuals working with civil society organisations.

Almost a week ago, a spokesperson for the Taliban, Ihsanullah Ihsan, told the Associated Press news agency that both governor and chief minister of Balochistan province were on the hit list of the group.

He did not explain why they were being specifically targeted.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 18th,  2011.]]>
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			<title>Evolution of militancy: Al Qaeda, Taliban grooming new leadership</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/142637/evolution-of-militancy-al-qaeda-taliban-grooming-new-leadership</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/142637/evolution-of-militancy-al-qaeda-taliban-grooming-new-leadership#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 04 Apr 11 03:01:15 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[zia.khan]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=142637</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Heads delegating more authority to smaller cells to evade detection.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[Al-Qaeda and its affiliated groups based in Pakistan’s tribal regions are grooming alternative leaderships and splitting their strength into small cells to confuse counter-terror agencies operating against them and survive in the face of sudden fatalities.


Intelligence officials in Islamabad and associates of such groups in South and North Waziristan agencies said these outfits, including Haqqani network, had been following this pattern for some time now and unusual changes were expected in months to come.

The network of Afghan Taliban led by Maulana Sirajuddin Haqqani, supposedly the strongest of al-Qaeda partners, might be promoting a new leader to undertake the group’s operational as well as organisational activities.

Badaruddin, one of several sons of Maulana Jalaluddin Haqqani, would now be introduced to the outside world as the network’s main operative, leading the group and spearheading its operations across Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

“He is up and coming… very soon he will be a household name in the world of terror,” said one official.

Jalal’s elder son, Sirajuddin Haqqani, has so far been leading the network his father established almost two decades ago to fight the communist regime in Afghanistan after the former Soviet Union withdrew forces from the country.

The network, comprising the Pakti clan of Afghan militants because of its base in Paktia and Paktika, has been operating from the North Waziristan tribal district of Pakistan after the US-led invasion uprooted the Taliban regime from Afghanistan.

This change of leadership, one of the group’s associates said, was a strategic move to make sure that there will not be any crisis if one leader got killed. But intelligence officials suspect another reason.

“It is to save him from the public exposure… they don’t feel safe after an intensified drone campaign against them by the US,” one official explained.

Sirajuddin, he added, was the real inspirational character in the network and a replacement for Jalaluddin and the groups wanted to have him anyway whether he led its operations or not.

Similarly, another al Qaeda affiliated group based in same region and led by veteran Kashmir militant leader Ilyas Kashmiri was also in the process of creating several small cells primarily to create confusion and also as a mechanism for the division of labour.

What was Harkat Jihadul Islami in the beginning was then converted to al Qaeda’s 313 brigade and now had been renamed as Lashkar-e-Zil, officials and local said.

Kashmiri, who was responsible for controlling an al Qaeda cell to plan and coordinate attacks on Western targets, had gone in virtual hiding now and all of the foreigners being trained by him have now been divided into small groups to work with different commanders.

“What used to be a cluster once (of white al Qaeda) is now a divided group of individuals operating independently,” a local said of all the Western affiliates of the terror network.

In South Waziristan also, Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Hakimullah Mehsud had delegated most of his power to a Shura or council led by Sheikh Khalid, a militant commander belonging to Mardan.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 4th,  2011.]]>
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			<title>Some more on the Pakistani Taliban</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/132054/some-more-on-the-pakistani-taliban</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/132054/some-more-on-the-pakistani-taliban#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 13 Mar 11 18:10:44 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Ejaz Haider]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=132054</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[By forcing the army into deployment mode, the TTP extracts a price that can be costly in tangible and intangible terms]]>
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				<![CDATA[Interesting article by Brig Asad Munir (retd) titled “The real agenda of the Pakistani Taliban” (March 9), except that it ignores some important aspects: The subtle and not so subtle changes that have taken place in the tribal society and also the TTP phenomenon. Let’s consider them in this order.

Two of the three categories the brigadier has described, Pashtuns and Mian Mulla, were never very distinct — as, for instance, in a different way in Punjab — and began to merge into each other fairly early into the Soviet-Afghan war. Not without reason either. Leadership in Pashtun society is unlike the Baloch tribal structure where the sardar sits at the apex and where even inter-tribe relationships are hierarchically determined. The Pashtun leadership is a matter of who can negotiate effectively with the outside world for the solidarity group — tribe, sub-tribe, sub-sub-tribe and clans.

It is for this reason that with the war the traditional structures began to break down, giving way to new power centres. This did not happen so much on our side but it impacted the Afghan traditional elite directly. A similar phenomenon began in Fata in the early 1990s.

When I went to Hangu in 1998 to report on the sectarian riots which saw Orakzai lashkars descend into the Miranzai Valley, I realised that a major shift was happening. Sunni Orakzai tribesmen were linking up with Sunni Bangash to attack Shia Bangash. Never before was it possible for tribal affiliation (the qaum or solidarity group) to be undermined by some supra-tribal ideology.

Imagine my surprise when in Hangu city, on one of the northern hills, I saw emblazoned in white lime the name of a Punjabi — Azam Tariq, the since slain leader of Sipah-e Sahaba Pakistan. Something was afoot and I reported it in The Friday Times along with the interview of Javed Piracha, the then PML-N MNA from Kohat and rabidly anti-Shia. For a Piracha to be able to influence the Pashtun and link up with the Orakzais was another telltale sign.

Fast forward to now. Sabir Mehsud, whose group captured Khalid Khawaja and Colonel Imam, kills Usman Punjabi, the man who was negotiating with the families and also the government. Within days Sabir, a Mehsud, is killed in Razmak by Hakimullah Mehsud’s men to avenge Punjabi’s killing. In the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa I spent my childhood in, that would have been unheard of.

There’s much more to this shift, but given space constraints let’s leave it at this and move on to the TTP. Brig Munir is right; much before 9/11 and the US attack on Afghanistan, the Taliban had begun to ingress into Fata. They not only came to Mirali but also went into Mohmand. A few times there was fire exchange between Frontier Corps troops and the Taliban because the latter considered the Durand Line as disputed as previous Afghan regimes.

But, and this is important, the TTP, for all its rhetoric, is not linked to the known Afghan groups operating in Afghanistan. If anything, in Bajaur we had Afghans fighting Pakistani forces. There is no known TTP operation inside Afghanistan, with the possible exception of the video that emerged of the Jordanian that attacked FOB Chapman in Khost in January 2010. If the TTP had deep linkages with the Afghan Taliban, frenetic efforts by their jirgas to save first Khawaja and later Imam would not have failed.

North Waziristan, Mohmand and now Kurram are areas where multiple groups operate and each offers a deterrent to other groups. Haji Gul Bahadur, who controlled most of the area in North Waziristan, is now under pressure from the TTP, whose elements have relocated to Mirali and Datta Khel and many are Punjabis. It is interesting to note that this is primarily Wazir area!

It is, therefore, important to analyse what the TTP agenda is. While it may want to control Fata, as a military officer Brig Munir knows that it does not have the capacity to capture territory elsewhere; or even retain it in Fata before a superior force. However, it has the capability to bleed the army and become a diabetic case for the state. Also, by forcing the army into a forward deployment mode in Fata, it extracts a price that can be costly both in tangible and intangible terms.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 14th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>TTP second-in-command rumoured dead</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/63326/ttp-second-in-command-rumoured-dead</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/63326/ttp-second-in-command-rumoured-dead#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 16 Oct 10 05:24:37 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[express]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=63326</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Qari Hussain Ahmed Mehsud was killed in a strike by US-operated drones early this month, unconfirmed reports said]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[Qari Hussain Ahmed Mehsud, the second-in-command of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the master trainer of suicide bombers, was killed in a strike by US-operated drones early this month, unconfirmed reports said.

The Express Tribune’s sources in the Mirali sub-district of North Waziristan, however, said that Qari Hussain had narrowly escaped the October 2 attack that killed two of his bodyguards and eight German al Qaeda affiliates.

“He was injured but the injuries were minor and he has recovered now,” a member from Qari’s family said from Mirali, over the phone.

Reports in some national television channels cited unnamed intelligence sources to confirm the news. However, no one could confirm it to The Express Tribune, including sources from Qari’s family in the North Waziristan Agencies.

Similar reports about Qari and TTP chief Hakimullah Mehsud were proved wrong last year, although both Pakistani and US intelligence officials were convinced that Hakimullah was dead.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 16th, 2010.]]>
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			<title>US charges Hakimullah Mehsud</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/45532/us-charges-hakimullah-mehsud</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/45532/us-charges-hakimullah-mehsud#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 02 Sep 10 05:36:58 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[afp]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=45532</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[The Justice Department move came as the State Department added TTP to a blacklist of foreign terrorist organisations.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[The United States slapped Hakimullah Mehsud, the chief of the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) with terrorism charges on Wednesday for his alleged role in the murder of seven Americans at a CIA base in Afghanistan.

The Justice Department move came as the State Department added the TTP to a blacklist of foreign terrorist organizations, which means members face asset freezes and travel bans.

The State Department also offered rewards of up to $5million each for information leading to Mehsud’s location and the location of Waliur Rehman, who is reportedly Mehsud’s current second-in-command.

“Hakimullah Mehsud, the self-proclaimed emir of the Pakistani Taliban, has been charged by criminal complaint for his alleged involvement in the murder of seven American citizens on December 30, 2009 at a US military base in Afghanistan,” the Justice Department said in a statement.

In a two-count complaint filed in US District Court in Washington, Mehsud was charged with conspiracy to murder Americans abroad and conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction against US citizens abroad. Daniel Benjamin, the ambassador at large for counter-terrorism, said Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), often made up of fertilizer and diesel fuel, fall into the category of weapons of mass destruction.

Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi, a Jordanian of Palestinian origin who is said to have been a triple agent, blew himself up at the base in Khost, near the Pakistani border in the deadliest attack against the CIA since 1983.

In addition to the agents, Balawi also killed his Jordanian handler -- a top intelligence officer and member of the royal family. In addition to the Khost bombing, the United States has linked the  TTP to a botched car bomb plot in New York’s Times Square in May and a deadly attack at the US consulate in Peshawar, Pakistan in April.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton designated the TTP as a foreign terrorist organisation on August 12, and it was formally added to the list when it was published on Wednesday in the Federal Register.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 2nd, 2010.]]>
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			<title>Pakistan acknowledges Faisal Shahzad met Hakimullah</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/31179/pakistan-acknowledges-faisal-shahzad-met-hakimullah</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/31179/pakistan-acknowledges-faisal-shahzad-met-hakimullah#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 26 Jul 10 11:23:42 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[afp]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=31179</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Pakistan acknowledged that the Faisal Shahzad who pleaded guilty to a New York bomb plot met the commander of TTP.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[Pakistan acknowledged on Monday that the Faisal Shahzad who pleaded guilty to a New York bomb plot met the commander of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, just days after footage emerged of them hugging. 

Faisal Shahzad last month pleaded guilty in a New York court to the bomb bid and warned of more attacks on the United States until it leaves Muslim lands. Sky News broadcast a video last week showing Shahzad and Hakimullah Mehsud, commander the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, shaking hands, smiling and hugging sometime before the failed May 1 attack.

"He visited Pakistan seven times and he met Hakimullah Mehsud and also met other people, those so-called leaders of the Taliban," Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik told reporters in the northwestern town of Pabbi.

Tehrik-e-Taliban claimed responsibility for the May 1 New York bomb plot. Pakistan opened an investigation into possible links between Shahzad and militant groups at the request of the United States.

Pakistani-born Shahzad was pulled off a flight to Dubai two days after parking a car containing a bomb in Times Square. Shahzad told a judge he underwent bomb-making training during a 40-day stay with the Pakistani Taliban in Pakistan, between December 9 and January 25.

On returning to the United States, Shahzad said he planned the bombing and acted alone, telling the judge: "Nobody helped me." Malik sought to distance Pakistan from Shahzad, who spent much of the last decade in the United States and who took US nationality.

"We accept he is of Pakistani origin but all his actions in America should also be investigated," he said. "We should see this in greater perspective. This is a matter of mindset. The Taliban are trying to change the mindset of present and future generations and we have to fight against this."]]>
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			<title>Video shows Faisal Shahzad with Hakimullah Mehsud</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/30356/video-shows-faisal-shahzad-with-hakimullah-mehsud</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/30356/video-shows-faisal-shahzad-with-hakimullah-mehsud#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 23 Jul 10 11:58:13 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[express]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=30356</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[A newly released video shows a young man, allegedly Faisal Shahzad, shaking hands and hugging Hakimullah Mehsud.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[A newly released video shows a young man, allegedly Faisal Shahzad, shaking hands and hugging Hakimullah Mehsud with a voice heard in the background saying "Today, along with the leader of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan Hakimullah Mehsud and under the command of Amir al-Mumineen Mullah Mohammed Omar Mujahid (may Allah protect him), we are planning to wage an attack on your side, inshallah."

The previously unpublished video has been released by Flashpoint Global Partners, a global security and terrorism consultancy.

Faisal Shahzad, the the would-be Times Square bomber, had told investigators after he was arrested that he had met the leader of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, but many had doubted the claim as too far-fetched. The release of the video however seems to have confirmed this.]]>
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			<title>Locals to raise militia against Hakimullah</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/18967/locals-to-raise-militia-against-hakimullah</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/18967/locals-to-raise-militia-against-hakimullah#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 05 Jun 10 01:25:11 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[reuters]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=18967</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[]]>
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				<![CDATA[Members of a Pashtun tribe vowed on Friday to raise a militia aimed at forcing militants loyal to Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud from their lands on the Afghan border.

Elders from the Wazir tribe agreed to raise a traditional tribal militia, known as a “Lashkar,” to expel Mehsud militants from their areas. “We promised to keep the peace and we will force militants to leave our areas within a week,” Wazir tribal elder Mohammad Ajmal told a gathering of around 400 tribal leaders in Wana, the main town of Waziristan. He spoke after a meeting with government authorities. “We will not let anyone to ruin the peace in Wana,” he added. The government has also been pressing the Wazir tribe to dislodge militants from its territory.

Hakimullah, the country’s number one enemy, comes from the Mehsud tribe, a major Pakhtun tribe living in South Waziristan. Though the military says it has destroyed most of the bases of Mehsud militants, Hakimullah and other leaders of the Pakistani Taliban survived the offensive.

A large number of militants fled to nearby regions while many fighters are also believed to have taken refuge in territories controlled by the Wazir tribe, the Mehsuds’ traditional rivals and the second major tribe in South Waziristan.

Hundreds of militants have been killed in military operations in South Waziristan and other areas in the northwest over the past year, but militants have been to able to hit back with a wave of attacks, killing hundreds of people across the country. Taliban militants killed at least 84 people in attacks on two Ahmadi places of worship in Lahore last week.

The US has also been pressing Pakistan to extend its offensive into neighbouring North Waziristan, described as the main sanctuary for al Qaeda-linked militants. Washington is particularly eager to strike the militants there, who, they say, launch cross-border attacks on Western forces in Afghanistan.

Moreover, suspected links between Faisal Shahzad, the main suspect in the botched bomb plot at New York’s Times Square, and militants in North Waziristan have added pressure on Pakistan to take concrete steps to tackle a mounting threat emanating from the region.

Pakistani officials say they are over-stretched and do not have enough resources to open another front when they have yet to consolidate successes in South Waziristan and elsewhere in the northwest.

Published in the Express Tribune, June 5th, 2010.]]>
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			<title>Tribe vows to dispel Mehsud militants</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/18693/tribe-vows-to-dispel-mehsud-militants</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/18693/tribe-vows-to-dispel-mehsud-militants#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 04 Jun 10 12:47:31 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[reuters]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=18693</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Members of a Pashtun tribe vowed to raise a militia aimed at forcing militants from its territory.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Members of a Pashtun tribe vowed to raise a militia aimed at forcing militants loyal to Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud from their lands on the Afghan border.

The government has been pressing the Wazir tribe to dislodge militants from its territory.

Hakimullah comes from the Mehsud tribe. Though the military says it has destroyed most of the bases of Mehsud militants, a large number of militants have fled to nearby regions while many fighters are also believed to have taken refuge in territories controlled by the Wazir tribe, the second major tribe in South Waziristan and the Mehsuds' traditional rivals.

"We promised to keep the peace and we will force militants to leave our areas within a week," Wazir tribal elder Mohammad Ajmal told a gathering of around 400 tribal leaders in Wana, the main town of Waziristan. He spoke after a meeting with government authorities.

"We will not let anyone to ruin the peace in Wana," he added.

The United States has also been pressing Pakistan to extend its offensive into neighbouring North Waziristan, described as the main sanctuary for al Qaeda-linked militants. Washington is particularly eager to strike the Afghan Taliban, who launch cross-border attacks on Coalition forces in Afghanistan.

Moreover, suspected links between Faisal Shahzad, the main suspect in the botched bomb plot at New York's Times Square, and militants in North Waziristan have added pressure on Pakistan to take concrete steps to tackle a mounting threat emanating from the region.

Officials say they are over-stretched and they do not have enough resources to open another front when it has yet to consolidate its successes in South Waziristan and elsewhere in the northwest.]]>
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			<title>Killing the hydra-headed monster of militancy</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/11838/killing-the-hydra-headed-monster-of-militancy</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/11838/killing-the-hydra-headed-monster-of-militancy#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 09 May 10 08:26:18 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[manzoor.ali.shah]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
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				<![CDATA[Saturday’s announcement by the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government to launch a search operation in Kala Dhaka, a provincially administered tribal area in Mansehra district, shows that militancy is seeping into the erstwhile peaceful northern districts of the province. 

Hours before the announcement suspected militants attacked a police picket, killing four policemen. Earlier this year there were two such attacks in which militants targeted an office of a nongovernmental organisation and a police station. The government’s announcement is also significant because in the past when the entire Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province and neighbouring tribal regions were reeling from a deadly insurgency, Hazara division remained relatively peaceful.

Earlier these obscurantist elements limited their activities to tribal regions, especially to South and North Waziristan agencies, where they easily found fresh recruits. However, militancy quickly engulfed other tribal agencies and neighbouring Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa after the 2007 security operation against the radicals of the Lal Masjid in Islamabad. The former idyllic ski resort of Swat turned out to be the new epicentre of militancy where radical cleric Maulana Fazlullah and hundreds of loyalists launched a bloody campaign to enforce their own version of Islamic law.

Alarmed by increasing activities of militants, the government decided to move against Maulana Fazlullah and his fighters. On October 27, 2007, troops moved into the militant-infested valley. Interestingly, the same day, the then provincial home secretary, Badshah Gul Wazir, told journalists in Peshawar that 300-400 militants had ganged up to form a private militia by the name of Shaheen Commando Force, which had around 4,600 supporters in 59 villages of Swat.

On January 25, 2008, security forces launched an operation, codenamed Eagle Swoop, in the semi-tribal area of Darra Adamkhel, after militants seized trucks loaded with ammunition and army troops. But militancy showed no signs of abating. Instead militants started hitting targets in settled areas of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa to force the government to call off the operation. However, the government was determined to root out extremism, once and for all. In November 2007, another operation, codenamed Rah-e-Haq-I, was launched in Swat district. And it took security forces three months to wrap up the offensive.

The February general elections rekindled hopes for peace in the region and subsequently on May 21 the provincial government, led by the Awami National Party (ANP), and militants signed a peace deal. However, the truce broke down following repeated violations by militants. This led to another military operation, codenamed Rah-e-Haq-II, in Swat on July 29, 2008. A month earlier, security forces had also opened a front in the Khyber Agency where they launched operation Sirat-e-Mustaqeem (Righteous Path), against militants linked with Lashakr-e- Islam, a self-styled hardline vigilante squad, while another operation, codenamed Zarbe- Kaleem, was launched in Hangu district on July 9, 2008.

On August 6, 2008, operation Sher Dil (Lion Heart) was launched in the Bajaur tribal region and it was concluded in the first month of 2009. On December 28, 2008 operation Daraghalam (Here I Come) was launched in Khyber Agency, which was followed by operation Biya Daraghlam (Here I Come Again) in September 2009, and Operation Khwakh Ba De Shum (I Will Teach You a Lesson) in November 2009.

The year 2009 also saw two large military operations in Malakand Division and South Waziristan Agency. Operation Rah-e-Raast (Right Path) was launched in Upper Dir in April, which was later extended to the districts of Buner and Swat. The mother of all operations was launched in October in South Waziristan, when hundreds of troops, backed by heavy artillery and airpower, moved against the Hakimullah Mehsud-led Taliban militants.

In 2010, the only operation was launched in the Orakzai Agency, where security forces believed that militants fleeing the South Waziristan operation were hiding. The operation is ongoing and troops claim to have killed hundreds of militants. While the human cost of these operations is enormous, they also triggered mass exodus of people from the war fronts. Hundreds of thousands of people had to flee their villages and seek shelter in peaceful districts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

Despite all these operations and human sufferings peace remains elusive in the region as militants continue to hit civil and military targets at will anywhere in the province. Will the expected operation in Kala Dhaka turn out be a success, nobody can say for sure, at least for now.]]>
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			<title>Hakimullah threatens US in April 4 video</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/10629/hakimullah-threatens-us-in-april-4-video</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/10629/hakimullah-threatens-us-in-april-4-video#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 03 May 10 19:57:59 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[agencies]]>
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				<![CDATA[Chief of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Hakimullah Mehsud has appeared in a new video issued months after his reported death, vowing revenge attacks on the US, American monitoring groups said on Monday.

In the nine-minute video apparently made on April 4, Mehsud threatened to retaliate against the US within a month to avenge the killing of al Qaeda militant leaders. “The time is very near when our fedayeen will attack American states in major cities,” said Mehsud, who was seen flanked by two armed and masked men in the video released by the US-based groups SITE and Intelcenter that monitor extremist websites.

Mehsud, who succeeded slain Baitullah Mehsud as the leader of TTP last August, was reported to have been killed in a US drone strike on January 14. The attack was launched after Mehsud claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing by a Jordanian double agent on a US base in eastern Afghanistan in December that killed seven CIA agents.

The TTP denied his death, but Pakistani intelligence officials only last week said that he had survived. Mehsud poured scorn on reports of his death, describing them as ‘open lies and propaganda by the kuffar (nonbelievers)’. “InshaAllah (God willing) very soon in some days or a month’s time, the Muslim ummah (world) will see the fruits of most successful attacks of our fedayeen in the US,” he said.

Intelcenter said its analysis indicated that the video was ‘credible’ and that it had been issued by the TTP’s media arm Umar Studio. Mehsud, believed to be aged about 30, said the TTP would attack the US “for having martyred many of our great Muslim leaders, including Baitullah Mehsud, and many respected brothers from the al Qaeda,” SITE reported. “Our fedayeen have penetrated the terrorist America. We will give extremely painful blows to the fanatic America.”

Mehsud, bearded and with long hair, also warned members of Nato and other allies to abandon the US, telling them: “You will face even worse humiliation, destruction and defeat than America itself.” SITE also reported that an audio message from Mehsud, allegedly recorded on April 19 and making similar threats against the US, was released on the internet. A video from suicide bomber trainer Qari Hussain has also been released, in which he “takes full responsibility” for an attack inside the US but did not give details.]]>
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			<title>Hydra Mehsud</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/10555/hydra-mehsud</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/10555/hydra-mehsud#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 03 May 10 19:24:37 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[quatrina.hosain]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
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				<![CDATA[Tehreek-i-Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud seems to be Pakistan’s own version of Freddy Krueger of Friday the 13th fame. After much speculation over whether he was killed in a January drone strike on the border near Afghanistan, an ISI official told Declan Walsh, The Guardian correspondent in Islamabad last week, that Mehsud had been injured but survived.

The Obama administration had earlier said it was 90 per cent certain that he had died after the January 14 drone strike, a view later corroborated by Interior Minister Rehman Malik. This wasn’t the first report of Mehsud’s death. After Baitullah Mehsud was killed in a drone strike in August last year, Hakimullah Mehsud was reported killed in a war of succession within the ranks of the Taliban by Waliur Rehman.

That report died because Mehsud did not. He went on to become as fearsome, if not more, than his predecessor Baitullah Mehsud. Under his leadership the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan became Pakistan’s most feared entity, carrying out multiple suicide bombings that left hundreds dead across Pakistan. He also took credit for last December’s suicide bombing at a CIA base in Khost, Afghanistan, that killed seven people of whom at least five were CIA officials.

It now appears that Mehsud has risen from the dead like a Hollywood style evil killer in unending and nauseating sequels. But where is he? Reports suggest that he has lost much of his influence within the ranks of the Taliban after he disappeared following the January attack. Could he possibly be in the custody of intelligence agencies, either domestic or American? These questions are likely to remain unanswered for now given Pakistan’s rather hysterical reaction to reports of him still being alive.

The knee-jerk reaction of the federal government to reports that Hakimullah Mehsud is alive took me more by surprise than the report that Mehsud was still alive. Federal Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira lashed out at me in a live television show saying I shouldn’t even be discussing Mehsud, dead or alive, arguing that he was a criminal. With me on the show was Declan Walsh, the journalist who broke the story. I repeatedly tried to convince Mr Kaira that we were not lionising Mehsud but were discussing the impact this information would have.

But the icing on the cake was Mr Kaira suggesting that my raising the issue that Mehsud was still alive would “scare people.” Scare people? Mr Kaira, the people are scared all the time whether we discuss Mehsud or the weather. We live under a perpetual fog of uncertainty and fear. We suppress the fear because life must go on and we cannot cower in our homes surrounded by high walls and a platoon of guards. Our lives will not change whether Hakimullah Mehsud is discussed on TV or not.

We will not feel more secure if the government tries to wave away hard facts or tell us half-truths and, more often, outright lies. The Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan is a Hydra-headed monster. No matter how many heads are cut off, there will be more that will grow. That is the hard truth we have accepted, albeit reluctantly. We know that we are in for the long haul and this war will not go away overnight. What I wish would go away is the unending capacity of the government to fool itself and the people.

Click the video tab above to view Hakimullah Mehsud's latest video.]]>
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			<title>Hakimullah vows attacks against US in new video</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/10443/hakimullah-vows-attacks-against-us-in-new-video</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/10443/hakimullah-vows-attacks-against-us-in-new-video#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 03 May 10 12:33:09 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[afp]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
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				<![CDATA[Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud has appeared in a new video issued months after his reported death, vowing revenge attacks on the United States, US monitoring groups said on Monday. 

Mehsud threatened to retaliate against the United States within a month for the killing of Al-Qaeda militant leaders, in the nine-minute video allegedly made on April 4, after his supposed death in January.

"The time is very near when our fedayeen will attack the American states in the major cities," said Mehsud, who was seen flanked by two armed and masked men in the video released by the SITE and Intelcenter monitoring groups.

Mehsud was reported to have been killed in a US drone strike in northwestern Pakistan on January 14, but his militant group denied his death and Pakistani intelligence officials were quoted as saying last week that he had survived.

Mehsud, who took over leadership of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan group last August, poured scorn on reports of his death, describing them as an "open lie and propaganda by the kuffar (non-believers)".

"Inshaallah (God willing) very soon in some days or a month's time, the Muslim ummah (world) will see the fruits of most successful attacks of our fedayeen in USA," Mehsud said.

Intelcenter, a US-based group that monitors militant websites, said its analysis indicated that the video was "credible" and that it had been issued by the TTP's media arm Umar Studio. Another video allegedly issued by the TTP on Sunday claimed it was behind an attempted car bombing in New York's Times Square at the weekend, but US officials have dismissed the claims.

"There is no evidence that this is tied in with Al-Qaeda or any other big terrorist organisation," New York mayor Michael Bloomberg said. If the TTP claim were authenticated, it would be the first attack by the militant group against a target in the United States, but Intelcenter cast doubt on its credibility as it was not issued on usual Islamist websites.

Mehsud assumed leadership of the TTP, which is blamed for the deaths of thousands of people in attacks across Pakistan, after his predecessor Baitullah Mehsud was killed in a US drone strike in August last year. The January US missile attack was launched after Mehsud claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing by a Jordanian double agent on a US base in eastern Afghanistan in December that killed seven CIA agents. Islamabad has offered a reward of 50 million rupees (about 590,000 dollars) for information leading to the militant's capture, dead or alive.

Mehsud, believed to be aged about 30, said the TTP would attack the United States "for having martyred many of our great Muslim leaders including Baitullah Mehsud and many respected brothers from Al-Qaeda", SITE reported. "Our fedayeen have penetrated the terrorist America, we will give extremely painful blows to the fanatic America."

Mehsud also warned members of NATO and other allies to abandon the United States, telling them: "You will face even worse humiliation, destruction and defeat than America itself."

SITE also reported that an audio message from Mehsud allegedly recorded on April 19 and making similar threats against the United States was released on the Internet.

A Pentagon spokesman had said last week that it was unclear if Mehsud was dead or alive, but that he was no longer running the TTP. "I certainly have seen no evidence that the person you speak of is operational today, or is executing or exerting authority over the Pakistan Taliban as he once did," Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said. "I don't know if that reflects him being alive or dead but he clearly is not running the Pakistani Taliban anymore."]]>
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			<title>Hakimullah Mehsud’s video</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/10254/hakimullah-mehsud%e2%80%99s-video</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/10254/hakimullah-mehsud%e2%80%99s-video#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 01 May 10 21:09:51 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[reza.jan]]>
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				<![CDATA[This is with reference to the recently-released video of Hakimullah Mehsud and your newspaper’s story published on it on April 30. The video attached to the story is months old, and has already been released. The website, SITE Intel has had this video on its website for quite some time. Whoever sent this video expects it to be proof that Hakimullah Mehsud is still alive — but that clearly isn’t the case.

Including the video on your website along with the story could be seen as misleading because it is old footage. In that context, the delivery of this video to the media does not constitute any special development with regard to Mr Mehsud’s well-being, or lack thereof.]]>
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			<title>Video of Hakimullah Mehsud released today</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/9965/video-of-hakimullah-mehsud-released-today</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/9965/video-of-hakimullah-mehsud-released-today#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 30 Apr 10 11:53:45 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[express]]>
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				<![CDATA[Express received a video of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan Chief  Hakimullah Mehsud on Friday.

There is no indication of when and where this video has been shot. It  is not even clear whether Hakimullah is recovering from injuries.

This video comes two days after the publication of a report in The  Guardian that quotes Pakistani intelligence officials as claiming that  Hakimullah has survived the American drone attack in January this year and is in  fact alive and well.]]>
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			<title>Mehsud isn’t running Taliban: Pentagon</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/9898/mehsud-isn%e2%80%99t-running-taliban-pentagon</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/9898/mehsud-isn%e2%80%99t-running-taliban-pentagon#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 29 Apr 10 22:17:34 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[reuters]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
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				<![CDATA[The Pentagon said on Thursday that the Pakistani Taliban militant group was no longer being run by Hakimullah Mehsud, who Pakistani intelligence officials now believe survived a CIA drone aircraft strike in January. 

“I certainly have seen no evidence that the person you speak of (Mehsud) is operational today or is executing or exerting authority over the Pakistan Taliban as he once did. So I don’t know if that reflects him being alive or dead, but he clearly is not running the Pakistani Taliban anymore,” Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said at a news conference. He also said Washington was planning to quickly transfer $600 million to Pakistan to reimburse the government for military operations over the last year.

“There has been some concern…about the rate at which they are reimbursed for Coalition Support Funds for their efforts in the war on terror on our behalf within their borders,” Mr Morrell said. “We have made great strides over the past few weeks to try to accelerate reimbursement payments to the Pakistanis... We have, I think, in total about $600 million that is in route or will soon be in route in the next few weeks to Pakistan to reimburse them for their operations over the past year.”

The payment delay has been a source of friction and has contributed to Pakistan’s economic woes. The United States is in arrears in paying about $2 billion in military aid to Pakistan under the so-called Coalition Support Fund. Last month, Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said a “substantial” amount of the money would be paid by the end of April, with Washington promising the remainder by the end of June.]]>
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			<title>TTP chief Hakimullah Mehsud is alive: report</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/9685/ttp-chief-hakimullah-mehsud-is-alive-report</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/9685/ttp-chief-hakimullah-mehsud-is-alive-report#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 28 Apr 10 21:51:33 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[express]]>
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				<![CDATA[Chief of the outlawed Tehrike-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Hakimullah Mehsud, survived a US American drone strike in January and is alive and well, Britain’s Guardian newspaper quoted a senior ISI official as saying on Wednesday. 

Mehsud was reported to have died in a CIA drone strike in South Waziristan in January but, although Pakistan’s interior minister claimed he had been killed, the death was never confirmed by either US or Pakistani intelligence. Today the senior intelligence official said he had seen video footage of the missile attack on Mehsud but other intelligence had since confirmed the insurgent leader survived. He declined to elaborate further. “He is alive,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

“He had some wounds but he is basically OK.” Mehsud’s apparent survival will be a blow to the CIA, which intensified efforts to kill the flamboyant young Taliban leader early this year after he appeared in a video alongside an al Qaeda operative who killed seven American spies at a base in southern Afghanistan in late December. The failed attack on Mehsud came at the start of an unprecedented onslaught by CIAcontrolled unmanned aircraft in the tribal belt.

The CIA has carried out 38 attacks so far this year, the official said, compared with 49 in the whole of 2009. “The US government is under pressure because it is unable to achieve much in Afghanistan. This is one way of hitting their al Qaida enemies, as they define them,” the official said. Drone strikes are deeply unpopular in Pakistan because of civilian casualties. The New America Foundation recently reported that between January 2009 and March 2010 the drones killed 690 alleged insurgents and 181 innocent villagers. CIA figures put the civilian tally for the same period at 20.

The Pakistani official estimated the civilian toll was “between the two figures” but insisted that targeting had improved. “For the Americans, this is an effective way of doing things from a distance with little collateral damage. I give full credit to the CIA for this.]]>
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