Sixth time lucky?

If Qari Hussain is dead, someone equally cruel may take over, and that dampens whatever joy we may feel at his passing

Being the second-in-command of a militant organisation may be the most hazardous job in the world. While the leaders of al Qaeda and the Afghan and Pakistani Taliban are notoriously difficult to capture or kill, their deputies seemed to be killed at a rapid rate. And, in some instances, they can be killed more than once. The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan’s (TTP) Qari Hussain Ahmed Mehsud, according to numerous press reports, is the latest militant to be allegedly killed by US drone strikes. The US is unwilling to give a definitive statement and the TTP is claiming he is still alive and well. At least three different dates on which he was supposedly killed have surfaced and this is at least the sixth report of his death in the last three years. In 2008, Qari Hussain even held a press conference where he mocked those who had proclaimed him dead.

In the event that Qari Hussain has been killed, it would still be dangerous to assume that the TTP’s ability to launch attacks has been diminished. The organisation is a decentralised group, whose autonomous units are more than capable of continuing their reign of terror. In fact, in the aftermath of former TTP leader Baitullah Mehsud’s death, there was actually an increase in suicide bombings and militant attacks. And as the recent Abdullah Shah Ghazi attack in Karachi – which took place after Qari Hussain was supposedly killed – shows that the TTP’s capacity to launch attacks remains undiminished. All the same, Qari Hussain’s alleged death can only be described as a case of justice served. As the chief trainer of suicide bombers, much of the blame for the terrorism that has devastated Pakistan can be laid at his feet. His training camps were nicknamed “suicide nurseries” because he trained young children to blow themselves up. That someone equally cruel may take over, however, dampens whatever joy we may feel at his passing.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 18^th, 2010.