Power games: Hakimullah Mehsud sacks TTP’s deputy chief

Maulvi Faqir fell out of favour over his alleged support for peace talks with Pakistan’s government, says source.

PESHAWAR: Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Hakimullah Mehsud has sacked his deputy Maulvi Faqir Mohammad – however the latter will remain in the group, a spokesman said on Monday.

Maulvi Faqir is the TTP’s commander in Bajaur. He was sacked as TTP’s deputy chief on Sunday at a meeting presided over by Mehsud, spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan told AFP by telephone.

“A shura meeting was held on Sunday and it decided to remove Maulvi Faqir Mohammad from the position of deputy chief of the TTP,” he said, adding that Faqir would continue to serve the group as an ordinary member.

Ehsan gave no reason for the removal. Neither was a successor announced.

A source close to the Taliban told AFP on condition of anonymity that the Bajaur commander fell out of favour with Mehsud over his alleged support for peace talks with the government.

Faqir also had sympathies with Mehsud’s biggest rival within the TTP, Waliur Rehman, the source added.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 6^th, 2012.