North Waziristan: Seven dead in latest TTP clashes

Fighting sparked by Thursday’s killing of key commander of Hakimullah group.

MIRAMSHAH:

At least seven militants were killed on Friday as fighting broke out between rival factions of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) after a brief lull in the mountainous Shawal tehsil of North Waziristan Agency.

In the early hours of Friday, fighters from the Waliur Rehman faction of the TTP, led by Khaliq Mehsud, aka Khan Said, alias Sajna, and Shehryar Mehsud-led Hakimullah group attacked each other’s positions in the Wach Mela area which lies on the confluence of North and South Waziristan agencies, a security official said.

Both heavy and light weapons were used in the clashes that left at least seven militants dead and three injured, he added. Five of the fatalities are said to be from the Hakimullah group and two from the Sajna faction.

The fresh fighting was triggered by the killing of Ashiqullah, a key commander of the Hakimullah group, allegedly by fighters from the rival faction on Thursday. Late last month the Sajna group had pulled out of the TTP accusing the group of criminality and betrayal.

The infighting erupted in the first week of April in South Waziristan Agency and quickly escalated to the nearby North Waziristan Agency and Tank district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Since then, the two factions have clashed sporadically, killing dozens of fighters from both sides. Efforts to broker a truce between the warring factions have failed.

Meanwhile, a key commander of the Sajna group, identified as Syed Khan, alias al Qaeda, was gunned down by the rival faction in the main Mirali Bazaar. An official of the local political administration said that Syed Khan was heading home from Mirali Bazaar when Hakimullah group fighters ambushed his vehicle, killing him on the spot.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 7^th, 2014.