Hakimullah Mehsud in a pamphlet urged his followers to stop attacks on the army. PHOTO:FILE
PESHAWAR: The Pakistani Taliban said on Saturday they would not attack the Pakistani army in the Taliban stronghold of North Waziristan, instead they would concentrate their attacks on Nato forces in Afghanistan.
Thousands of Pakistani soldiers are stationed in North Waziristan, along the Afghan border. There have been infrequent clashes there between the soldiers and Taliban.
A leaflet issued by Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud ordered those to stop. A senior commander confirmed the pamphlet's veracity.
"O Mujahideen brothers! As you know, the Pakistani and Afghan Taliban under the leadership of Mullah Mohammad Omar Mujahid are engaged in jihad against the crusaders and infidels, and are supporters of each others in the ongoing holy war," the pamphlet said.
"The enemy does not want to see us united and disciplined against them and are trying to divide us," it continued.
The Taliban have formed alliances with a number of other militant groups in North Waziristan who are violently opposed to the Pakistan.
Divisions in the insurgency
Some Taliban commanders are divided over whether the Pakistan state or Nato forces are their top target.
Those divisions were laid bare in November by an attempted suicide attack on Mullah Nazir, a top militant commander from the Wazir tribe in South Waziristan. He had signed a peace deal with the Pakistani army but supported attacks on Nato forces in Afghanistan.
The attack was widely believed to be the work of rival Taliban commanders, and the Wazir tribe ordered Hakimullah Mehsud's tribe out of their lands.
Mullah Nazir was killed in a drone strike this month and it is unclear if his successor will continue his policies, or what relationship the Wazir tribe will have with the Mehsud tribe.
Pakistan army officials have also told Reuters that there are tensions between Mehsud and his deputy. The two men recently appeared together in a video to deny the allegations.
The decision to halt attacks against the Pakistani army in North Waziristan could signal the Pakistani Taliban's intention to help the Afghan Taliban fight US-led Nato forces in the neighbouring country, or focus more closely on attacking Western targets inside Pakistan.
Or it could be more specifically aimed at unifying local factions. Mehsud's statement specifically addressed both foreign fighters and local Taliban.
COMMENTS (40)
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@Enlightened: And what about the more than 20000 killings of innocent and sinless people by the US' drones' strikes from the starting day to now and the drones' strikes are continue till now and approximately daily 5-10 people are being killed by the US' drones????
@numbersnumbers: Dear Numbers, Good to have you back on board. However, you left it up in the air as to who the bad guys are in Pakistan. I thought Pakistan was a reasonably peaceful place to be until our American friends set up Al Qaeda, trained their protege Osama bin Laden, and the Taliban, on the best ways to kill Russian soldiers, invaded Afghanistan, have killed huge numbers of people in Afghanistan/Pakistan over the last twelve years, and are continuing to do so with their drones, which they use to facilitate President Obama's assassination murder list.
The army is scared.......you can sense it with the way they are playing defense.
Kayani....under your leadership, the Army has lost....not wars.....but it's pride and courage. When will you retire so a REAL leader taker over and takes this war to the Taliban. Between you and Zardari, Pakistan has suffered enough.
@Sexton Blake: WOW, you ask "just who are the bad guys in Pakistan" after the deaths of near 30,000 plus Pakistanis! PLEASE tell us just WHO has killed all those Pakistanis or don't you know???
@Clear Black Bag: Your optimism is short-lived as they have killed 14 soldiers in NW today only after making the commitment not to attack troops in this area. I hope that your good-self and many other TTP apologists should now be convinced that a decisive operation which is long over due should be launched against them without any further delay. 40000 precious lives including 6000 soldiers have been lost in militancy and the whole economy is in doldrums. It is time for action or Pakistan will perish in violence unleashed by these barbarians.
TTP vowed not to attack military but killed 22 soldiers.Pak military please wake up and take decisive action against them as they cannot be trusted anymore as they are brutally killing both civilians and military personnel.
It doesn't say it won't harm Pakistani troops. You guys forget something rather important. To them you are infidels.
Or it could be that after the recent multiple bombing that slaughtered civivlians and police/soldiers alike, the TTP is afraid that the country is FINALLY waking up to what rabid dogs the TTP are! The Army should reply that they will shoot to kill any TTP/militant/terorist they find in North Waziristan (or anywhere else)!
A Terrorist group is offering safe package for a country which claims sovereignty over it. Whoa!
If Taliban are true and shall fulfill their this commitment/promise then from now Rehman Malik must not give this statement that Taliban are the biggest threats for peace in North Waziristan and Pakistan army must has to welcome,honor and respect this Taliban's goodwill and stop the military operations against the Taliban so that peace process could be completed the most conveniently and easily......
They only attack Shia and other smaller sects and non Muslims. They only attack secular and democratically elected leaders of ANP and PPP. Why would they attack their protectors and sympathizers?
What a state it has come to be in Pakistan that military has to negotiate with Taliban not to attack them. But what about rest of Pakistan, are they given free run to attack civilian and military targets ?/?
I'm surprised no Indian fellow commenting, posing to be an Afghan; on this page yet
TTP logic : lets stop killing pak army....but killing thousand of muslim innocent men and women all over pakistan...thats fine...
ha during south waziristan operation they use to hide in caves and trenches
They are on the losing side and now they want amenezty. It doesnt work this way my friend you dont get to decide the end results of u and ur group. You will be dead meat soon Inshallah.
What does one make of a comment like this? Is it a 'bolt from the blue' or 'capitulation' or a 'red herring or 'light at the end of the tunnel?’ Time will tell. Salams for 2013
Nato troops? so kill someone else's sons and fathers? Is that any better? These people are pure evil.
So TTP is now good taliban again. lol
That's great, because Pak Army will smoke vermon like you out of your holes. And it has the public's support to do so.
It appears that Army has decided to sacrifice shias from quetta to Gilgit at the altar of Taliban for their own security and well being
The TTP aim to continuously send out messages to confuse and bewilder people. The sadest part is that most Pakistanis and Pakistani politicians seem to go along with whatever lies the TTP churn out. The result: the TTP get to bomb and destroy innocent life with impunity.
When will it stop?
PEACE!
Zero tolerance against Taliban. Pakistan govt should distribute pamphlet to aware people against Taliban.
"The Pakistani Taliban ... would concentrate their attacks on Nato forces in Afghanistan."
Surely such a statement justifies Nato's use of drones in Pakistan.
This calls in for more DRONES please.
More drones on the way to negogiate with these beasts.
Will some one call for Jihad against Talibans!! Please, its the truest Jihad...
And wheres the quote that says they wont attack Pakistani soldiers?
@kanwal: try your best, and get the worst ... People like you don't learn from mistakes while they are alive, the rest u know
So they are good Taliban again !
Looks like a desperate attempt by TTP to get afghan taliban on their side.
Just as NATO mission is about to end in Afghanistan TTP have decided to support Afghan Taliban. What were they doing when Afghan Taliban needed them the most?
It's time for Pakistanis to take every single statement of the TTP very seriously. They are no longer a rag-tag "outfit" operating in FATA. They can strike wherever they want in Pakistan; GHQ, Islamabad, Quetta, Karachi, Peshawar, Lahore and other major cities around the country. Now let's see if Pakistani government take is an opportunity for peace talks.
Also, would the Taliban exclude the Afghan National Army from the list of "crusaders and infidels" as they did with Pakistani Army or not?
I cannot argue with the Taliban when they pinpoint their real enemy, but what I cannot understand is why they do not bring down US drones. After all if the drones have been designed by the US how difficult could it be to bring them down, and it has become obvious that Iran has the knowledge. This also moves on to the fact that the Pakistan military are colluding with the US in allowing drones to kill innocent Pakistanis by providing the relevant intelligence for drone targets. Just who are the bad guys in Pakistan?
Oh god dont fall for it again
Its not because of you Rehman Malik.
WHAT! What on earth have these guys been doing all along then?