Implosion in South Waziristan: Mehsud Taliban split from TTP

Spokesman blames TTP for attacking public places, extorting money and working for foreign agencies.

ISLAMABAD:

A powerful Taliban faction announced on Wednesday it was splitting from the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) which “has slipped into the hands of a bunch of conspirators who receive money from foreign elements for carrying out bomb attacks at public places”.

“We announce our defection from the TTP, we have chosen Khalid Mehsud as our new leader for South Waziristan,” Azam Tariq, a spokesman for the breakaway group, told a news conference at an undisclosed location somewhere in Waziristan. A copy of the Urdu-language statement is available with The Express Tribune.

Khalid Mehsud, who was earlier known by the name ‘Khan Said Sajna’, leads the Waliur Rehman Group of the TTP and was a contender for the TTP’s leadership after its former chief Hakimullah Mehsud was killed in a US drone strike last November.



In a long charge-sheet against the TTP leaders, Tariq said they have ‘deviated’ from the ideology of the group’s founder, Baitullah Mehsud, who was also killed in a US drone attack in 2009. “These TTP leaders are fuelling propaganda against the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,” he said referring to the Taliban militia fighting foreign troops across the Durand Line.

Tariq said the Mehsud Taliban consider blasts at public places, extortion of money Haram (forbidden in Islam). He said the TTP had emerged as a ‘jihadi’ organisation but some quarters promoted their sectarian beliefs and ideas which disillusioned others.

He said: “We had been monitoring these developments with patience just for unity [in Taliban ranks]… but now we’ve realised that an organised gang of conspirators have joined the ranks of the Taliban, who create obstacles for those who follow the correct ideology. This gang has also created a clique within the Mehsud Mujahideen to further their objectives.

“They wanted to create a parallel faction within the Mehsud Taliban. We formally lodged a protest with the Central Shura (council), but the issue was further complicated as the group had the backing of some conspirators within the movement.”

The Sajna faction has been involved in bloody clashes with the Shehryar Mehsud-led Hakimullah Group since April and even the Afghan Taliban’s mediation has failed to reconcile the belligerent groups. Dozens of fighters from both sides have been killed in sporadic fighting in nearly two months.



“The TTP leaders had kept a criminal and mysterious silence on the killing of our men. Our investigation later suggested that the TTP has slipped into the hands of a gang of robbers, extortionists, assassins and murderers of religious scholars,” he added. “They are also involved in extorting money from madrassas, shrines, and foreigners to carry out blasts at public places.”

These people, Tariq claimed, adopted a mysterious policy of claiming responsibility for terror attacks using fake names. “They tried to create misunderstandings between jihadi groups and launched propaganda against the Afghan Taliban.”

“These elements are using the TTP’s name for their own interests and are working for secret agencies. We will soon disclose their real face,” he added.

“We, the Mehsud unit of the Mujahideen, will pursue the jihadi policies of Baitullah Mehsud. We repose confidence in the leadership of Mullah Mohammad Omar and respect the instructions of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.”

A senior Taliban commander, who is considered close to Mullah Fazalullah, says the TTP chief is fast losing control over the group as the Taliban from other areas are also unhappy with his ‘emotional’ decisions.

Observers said the split was a victory for the Pakistani military’s strategy of pitting militant factions against each other, while gaining the loyalty of key commanders.

Peace talks between the government and the Taliban that began earlier this year have stalled, with the military last week resorting to air strikes on militant hideouts killing around 80 people.

Saifullah Mehsud, an analyst at the Islamabad-based Fata research centre, said the split was a vindication of the army’s divide-and-rule strategy. “That is a success for the Pakistan Army and for the rest of TTP it will be very difficult from now on,” he said. 

Published in The Express Tribune, May 29^th, 2014.