Infighting: Nine more killed as TTP factions clash

Four men of the Sajna group were killed in Shawal while five men of Hakimullah group were shot down in Tank.

DI KHAN:

Nine people were killed Wednesday in a fourth day of fighting between two feuding factions of the Pakistani Taliban in the restive northwest, intelligence and militant sources said.

A total of 43 people have now died in clashes which erupted on Sunday between supporters of Khan Said Sajna and followers of the late Hakimullah Mehsud group.

Both factions are part of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) umbrella group, which has been waging a bloody seven-year insurgency against the state.

The bloodshed occurred in two separate incidents. The first of them took place in the Shawal area of the South Waziristan, where four militants of the Sajna group died when their vehicle came under attack in the mountains of Pak-Afghan border area.

In the second incident, unknown militants – probably belonging to Sajna group – opened indiscriminate fire on a group of persons in Gomal area of District Tank and killed them on the spot, an official at Gomal Police Station confirmed to The Express Tribune.

The victims were setting in a hotel located on Gomal Zam Road linking DI Khan with Wana, South Wazirsitan, the official added. He did not provide further details.

According to the local sources, the five persons belonged to a militant commander, Warghamkai, whose group is active in the area and is linked with Hakimullah group. However AFP reported that two of them were passers-by.

A few days back, the same group had distributed pamphlets in the area, saying that those involved in dacoity, kidnapping and other violence did not belong to them.

Militant sources suggested that differences emerged after Sajna, a senior commander, was rejected for the TTP leadership, after Hakimullah was killed in a US drone strike last November.

Sajna had been seen as a strong candidate to become the TTP chief following Mehsud’s death. But the movement’s ruling council at the last minute elected Mullah Fazlullah, who hails from Swat and is believed to be hiding in Afghanistan. 

Published in The Express Tribune, April 10^th, 2014.