Militant factions: 70 TTP commanders break away to form new group

Jamaat Ul Ihrar formed to ‘fill vacuum left by TTP’, Ameer Maulana Qasam says

PESHAWAR:

Seventy key commanders broke away from the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) to form a new militant faction, namely Jamaatul Ihrar, to fill the vacuum created by the TTP, according to a video message by the group’s chief Maulana Qasam made public on Tuesday. “Our party will work like the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,” he says in the video message.

The eight-member central shura of Jamaatul Ihrar includes Qari Shakil and Omar Khalid Khurasani from Mohmand Agency, Qari Ismael from Khyber Agency, Maulvi Mansoor from Orakzai Agency, Abdullah from Bajaur Agency, Maulana Yaseen from Swat and Mufti Misbah from Peshawar. Qari Ehsanullah Ehsan has been named spokesperson for the group.

In the video message, Qari Shakil expresses anger over the disintegration of the TTP, saying that “due to personal interests on the part of some individuals, the TTP has failed in achieving its goals.”

Factions have existed within the TTP’s ranks since its formation in 2007. Mullah Nazir from South Waziristan and Hafiz Gul Bahadur from North Waziristan refused to join the group and after TTP chief Baitullah Mehsud was killed, Hakeemullah Mehsud and Mufti Waliur Rehman formed factions. After Hakeemullah was killed in a drone attack on November 1, 2013, the TTP formally divided into two groups. Infighting between the Said Khan alias Sajna group and Sheheryar Mehsud group left scores of fighters dead on both sides.

The TTP is now led by Mullah Fazlullah, with Sheikh Khalid Haqqani serving as his deputy. However, sources say militants from North and South Waziristan are reluctant to work under either leader.

South Waziristan was the TTP’s headquarters until 2010 when it shifted to North Waziristan. With the launch of Operation Zarb-e-Azb in 2014, however, the group has shifted its network to Tirah Valley in Khyber Agency.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 27^th, 2014.