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Last edited by ډګروال; 05-29-2013, 01:30 PM.
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(Reuters) - A U.S. drone strike killed the number two of the Pakistani Taliban in the North Waziristan region on Wednesday,
three security officials said, in what would be a major blow in the fight against militancy.
The drone strike killed seven people, Pakistani security officials said, including Taliban deputy commander Wali-ur-Rehman,
in the first such attack since a May 11 general election in which the use of the unmanned aircraft was a major issue.
Wali-ur-Rehman had been poised to succeed Hakimullah Mehsud as leader of the Pakistani Taliban, a senior army official
based in the South Waziristan region, had said in December.
"This is a huge blow to militants and a win in the fight against insurgents," one security official told Reuters, declining
further comment.
The Pakistani Taliban are a separate entity allied to the Afghan Taliban. Known as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP),
they have launched devastating attacks against the Pakistani military and civilians.
Pakistani Taliban spokesman Ihsanullah Ihsan told Reuters the group did not have "confirmed reports" that Wali-ur-Rehman
had been killed. He declined further comment.
Drone casualties are difficult to verify. Foreign journalists must have permission from the military to visit the Pashtun tribal
areas along the Afghan border.
Taliban fighters also often seal off the sites of drone strikes immediately so Pakistani journalists cannot see the victims.
"That the Taliban are remaining silent and neither denying or confirming the news is itself peculiar," said Saleem Safi, a
Pakistani expert on the Taliban. "But if this news is true, then the Pakistan army has the U.S. to thank."
The security officials and Pashtun tribesmen in the northwestern region said the drone fired two missiles that struck a
mud-built house at Chashma village, 3 km (2 miles) east of Miranshah, the region's administrative town.
They said seven people were killed and four wounded.
FOREIGN MINISTRY DENOUNCES DRONES
"Tribesmen started rescue work an hour after the attack and recovered seven bodies," said resident Bashir Dawar.
"The bodies were badly damaged and beyond recognition."
The Pakistan government had yet to confirm Wali-ur-Rehman's death.
A U.S. drone killed Pakistani Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud in 2009. There had been several reports that his successor,
Hakimullah Mehsud, was killed the same way but they turned out to be untrue.
But the Foreign Ministry again denounced drones in general on Wednesday.
"The government has consistently maintained that the drone strikes are counter-productive, entail loss of innocent civilian lives,
have human rights and humanitarian implications and violate the principles of national sovereignty, territorial integrity and international
law," it said.
U.S. President Barack Obama recently indicated he was scaling back the drone strike program, winning cautious approval from Pakistan,
a key ally in the U.S. fight on militancy.
North Waziristan is on the Afghan border and has long been a stronghold of militants including Afghan Taliban and their al Qaeda and
Pakistani Taliban allies.
Prime Minister-elect Nawaz Sharif said this month that drone strikes were a "challenge" to Pakistan's sovereignty.
"We will sit with our American friends and talk to them about this issue," he said.
Obama's announcement of scaling back drone strikes was widely welcomed by the people of North Waziristan, where drones armed with
missiles have carried out the most strikes against militants over the past seven years, sometimes with heavy civilian casualties.
The strike also coincided with the first session of the newly elected provincial assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the former Northwest
Frontier Province.
Former cricketer Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf party won most seats in the assembly and denounced the strike, saying Obama
had gone back on his word.
(Additional reporting by Mehreen Zahra-Malik and Syed Raza Hassan in Islamabad, Saud Mehsud in Dera Ismail Khan;
Writing by Nick Macfie; Editing by Robert Birsel) -
I am curious as to the timing of this incident. The new government is set to take oath by June 1st and they had contacted Maulana Sami-ul-Haq to begin negotiations with TTP factions. Does this attack help in a sense that Army will be able to convince more TTP factions to break away from the central leadership or does it mean that negotiations have been altogether jeopardized ?
One thing for sure this has hit TTP extremely hard in Karachi, their entire gang network there extortion, kidnapping all that was carried out under this dude..and he was one of the main link between pakistani politicians and TTP. That finance hole has been plugged, and due to the recent increase in karachi violence you can bet that TTP was relying heavily on that for funds. Targeting wali-ur-rahman certainly will throw TTP in disarray.Last edited by Talal; 05-29-2013, 03:20 PM.It's enough that I know, Our time had a home, In your heart..Was a place..But the glass always breaks..Comment
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The Potential Fallout Of A Pakistani Militant's Death
The death of a key Pakistani Taliban commander tied to high-profile terrorist attacks in Pakistan and Afghanistan would be a major blow to the extremist movement's operations.
Wali-ur Rehman Mehsud, the deputy commander of Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP), is believed to have been killed in a drone strike carried out by the United States in the tribal regions of northwest Pakistan in the early hours of May 29.
RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal reported Mehsud's killing in the village of Chashmapul, North Waziristan, based on local and TTP sources.
Mehsud's death and the reported deaths of up to five other militants in the strike have not been officially confirmed by the TTP or the Pakistani government.
ALSO READ: Top Pakistani Taliban Leader Reportedly Killed
If true, the TTP would be deprived of a key strategist and operative capable of navigating Pakistani politics, raising funds, and carrying out major attacks in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and beyond.
Rehman was the alleged mastermind of the September 2008 attack on the Marriott hotel in Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, in which more than 50 people were killed. He was also linked to the December 2009 attack on a CIA base in Khost, Afghanistan, in which seven CIA employees were killed.
In 2010, the U.S. government, noting his attacks against U.S. personnel, offered rewards of up to $5 million for information identifying his location.
The 42-year-old was among a handful of TTP leaders with formal religious credentials and, as a former member of the prominent Islamist party Jamiat-e Ulam-e Islam, was seen as having political influence.
A Revered Figure
Retired Pakistani Brigadier-General Mehmood Shah followed Rehman's ascendancy within the TTP's hierarchy.
He notes that TTP members referred to Rehman as "Maulvi" and "Mufti" -- titles bestowed because of his religious education and authority.
"His loss means that the Taliban have lost a key symbolic figure whose understanding of religious issues was very important," Shah says. "Now they don't have anyone among their ranks that they can turn to interpret complex issues of Islamic jurisprudence."
RFE/RL Radio Mashaal correspondent Sailab Mehsud says that Rehman was revered among the ranks of the TTP because of his close association with the group's founder Baitullah Mehsud, who was killed in a drone strike in 2009.
Rehman was a native of Waziristan and came from the Mehsud tribe that inhabits the South Waziristan tribal district.
According to Mehsud, Rehman was a relatively mature figure in an organization mostly made up of young fighters. This gave him the authority and clout to resolve differences among the TTP's ranks.
"It is possible that his death will fan the differences among various Taliban factions," he says. "This is because his faction within the Taliban [TTP] seems to have no figure capable of checking and controlling their differences and dealings with other Taliban groups."
Strong tensions developed between Rehman and current TTP leader Hakimullah Mehsud in 2009 over the group's leadership. But the two resolved their differences and were seen as having an amicable working relationship.
Financial Fallout
Mehsud maintains that Rehman's killing would hit the Taliban coffers hard.
He says that Rehman raised finances for the TTP through a large and influential gang in the southern Pakistani seaport city of Karachi.
Mehsud says the group specialized in carrying out bank robberies and kidnappings for ransom, and the money gained from those activities were used to fund TTP attacks.
Looking at the immediate effects of Rehman's death, Mehsud singles out the ongoing efforts to initiate negotiations with the TTP, which has waged a longstanding insurgency against the Pakistani government.
The incoming Pakistani federal government and the provincial government of northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, where the TTP is highly active, have both expressed their intention to initiate talks with the TTP.
Mehsud says such initiatives would face difficulties in the absence of Rehman, whose former membership in Jamiat-e Ulam-e Islam provided a bridge between the militant group and the political scenes in Islamabad as well as in provincial and tribal regions.
The party has a strong support base in the tribal areas, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and the southwestern Balochistan Province. It recently won many seats from these areas and emerged as the second-largest party in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province.
Retired Brigadier-General Shah, who has extensive experience in dealing with the Taliban in the tribal areas, offers a counter opinion. He believes the absence of a key figure such as Rehman could push the TTP to the negotiating table.
"If the Taliban [TTP] sense they have been substantially weakened by this killing, it might prompt them to look at negotiations favorably," he says. "This would be a positive result of his killing."It's enough that I know, Our time had a home, In your heart..Was a place..But the glass always breaks..Comment
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Pakistan seems to be unhappy.
Drone strike kills four men in Pakistani tribal region | Foreign PolicyEven Adobe Photoshop can't change me.
A line[Durrand line] of hatred that raised a wall between the two brothers -Hamid Karzai
For generations, the Hindus of India prayed for deliverance from "the venom of the cobra, the teeth of the tiger and the vengeance of the Afghan."
The men of Kábul and Khilj also went home; and whenever they were questioned about the Musulmáns of the Kohistán (the mountains), and how matters stood there, they said, "Don't call it Kohistán, but Afghánistán; for there is nothing there but Afgháns and disturbances." Thus it is clear that for this reason the people of the country call their home in their own language Afghánistán, and themselves Afgháns. The people of India call them Patán; but the reason for this is not known. But it occurs to me, that when, under the rule of Muhammadan sovereigns, Musulmáns first came to the city of Patná, and dwelt there, the people of India (for that reason) called them Patáns—but God knows!
-Ferishta, 1560–1620Comment
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Post a link us commoners have access to as well Admin Khan.Originally posted by Admin Khan View Post
And nah this was a good news. This is infact a much more valuable target as compared to the no. 1 himself. Wali-ur-rahman was the main reason behind the TTP factions sticking together, there will be lots of splitting now. Many factions will break away through political negotiations because those factions were only there cuz of Wal-E.
This is a big wicket.It's enough that I know, Our time had a home, In your heart..Was a place..But the glass always breaks..Comment
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Pakistanis are very happy......however , this is going to cost Pakistan......Nek mohammad shaheed made peace deal with army......immediately after that America killed him in first ever drone strike....Pakistanis celebrated his death, claimed that it was pakistani army which killed him with laser guided missile.... they thought taliban strength is now finished.....But baitullah mehsud assumed the leadership of taliban, the central role in taliban movement went to rather more dangerous and merciless mehsuds......baitullah mehsud was born leader and he proved himself more dangerous, laid the foundation of TTP uniting each militant group in Pakistan.....suicide bombings and beheadings, he terrorized the whole pakistan, Pak army must ahve realized that they made the mistake of back-stabbing nek mohammad, a man of honour.
America killed baitullah mehsud for Pakistan......pakistanis celebrated his death......they thought that TTP is now finished..........But.......trigger-happy hakimullah mehsud replaced him, a military genius.......a young, aggressive, more violent and uncompromising......
Now death of wali ur rehman, deputy chief, middle aged sobre and less aggressive.......according to some sources he was stressing TTP to focus more on afghanistan against NATO, main person responsible for convincing TTP to participate in spring operation of afghan taliban.......and America droned him......at the time when Pakistani politicians were fully serious about peace talks with TTP, positive developments were taking place........TTP would now most probably withdraw peace talks offer.......
you kill hakimullah mehsud, another , another would replace him......they are always ready for death, it is not a type of movement that you will kill its heads and it would finish......you have to cut out its roots which is almost impossibleLast edited by Michin Khel; 05-29-2013, 05:56 PM.
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these taliban leaders are like ants one dies ten appears.Comment
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Exactly my thoughts. Only naive Pakistanis would think this is in their 'interest'. Facts work against them, as you've highlighted. If anything, this is a tactical victory for the USA, who like I've said before, will never let anyone harm its strategic interest.Originally posted by Luffy View PostEven Adobe Photoshop can't change me.
A line[Durrand line] of hatred that raised a wall between the two brothers -Hamid Karzai
For generations, the Hindus of India prayed for deliverance from "the venom of the cobra, the teeth of the tiger and the vengeance of the Afghan."
The men of Kábul and Khilj also went home; and whenever they were questioned about the Musulmáns of the Kohistán (the mountains), and how matters stood there, they said, "Don't call it Kohistán, but Afghánistán; for there is nothing there but Afgháns and disturbances." Thus it is clear that for this reason the people of the country call their home in their own language Afghánistán, and themselves Afgháns. The people of India call them Patán; but the reason for this is not known. But it occurs to me, that when, under the rule of Muhammadan sovereigns, Musulmáns first came to the city of Patná, and dwelt there, the people of India (for that reason) called them Patáns—but God knows!
-Ferishta, 1560–1620Comment
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Big difference back then and now Luffy, no one will call this a bad thing for Pakistan. You will recall that those days were the worst for Pakistan's internal security and we had the weakest internal government, all things that TTP was able to exploit. Won't be the same this time around.
~ "Naive" PakistaniIt's enough that I know, Our time had a home, In your heart..Was a place..But the glass always breaks..Comment
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Talal i am not saying its a bad thing from pakistani prospective....but look at the timing of attack, TTP may simply withdraw peace talk offers due to this attack......wali ur rehman was reported to insist on shifting attention from pak army to NATO, he was in JUI-F and could have played most important role in peace talks, the peace talks could have been his suggestion, not trigger happy hakimullah......
Despite of countless successful military operation, TTP is nowadays killing 4-5 faujis on average per day , their range is from swat to quetta....how do you explain that?......this is not a type of movement which you can finish by killings its leaders......there is always some one to replace the commander that gets killed......
An interesting point, he got killed in miranshah where pak army is stationed as well as haqqani network.....TTP is based in north waziristan but not in miranshah...it seems haqqani network provided him shelter.Comment
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This guy was approached by pak army to and asked him to convince hakim to only concentrate attacks on NATO and ANA. There was even speculation by the Pak Army that the two had fallen out because Hakim refused(I think Talal you or someone else even posted an article on PF about it that the Pak Army had successfully divided the TTP) and then later the two were seen side by side in a video claiming they are united in their goal putting all speculation to rest.
The guys waiting in line are usually younger and more aggressive since they tend to think their predecessor was killed because he was too soft. Also the TTP is not really centralized so killing a leader here and there is not going to disrupt them too much. This is more an NATO/ANA victory. His connection with the Pak military and opinion that NATO/ANA is the enemy was an asset to the pak military.Last edited by khushal; 05-30-2013, 01:42 AM.Comment
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@Luffy
The main architect behind suicide bombings in Pakistan, especially picking which installations to hit they were all carried out by wali. He being well versed in Pakistani politics was given the task of choosing the the locations that would cause maximum panic. He was behind the Islamabad Marriott bombing, the entire karachi extortion racket was being run by him.
@Khushal.. I think that was another faction leader that I was taking about or it may have been him, that incidence related to blowing up hakimullah's ride minutes before he was about to take off.
Anyways the biggest significance is that Baitullah mehsud, Qari Hussain and now this guy..Thats almost all the top TTP leadership wiped out, they have no other mature leadership to fall back on.
Honestly though I don't believe he's dead until there is some real hard evidence.It's enough that I know, Our time had a home, In your heart..Was a place..But the glass always breaks..Comment
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Accurately said, and I agree.Originally posted by khushal View PostEven Adobe Photoshop can't change me.
A line[Durrand line] of hatred that raised a wall between the two brothers -Hamid Karzai
For generations, the Hindus of India prayed for deliverance from "the venom of the cobra, the teeth of the tiger and the vengeance of the Afghan."
The men of Kábul and Khilj also went home; and whenever they were questioned about the Musulmáns of the Kohistán (the mountains), and how matters stood there, they said, "Don't call it Kohistán, but Afghánistán; for there is nothing there but Afgháns and disturbances." Thus it is clear that for this reason the people of the country call their home in their own language Afghánistán, and themselves Afgháns. The people of India call them Patán; but the reason for this is not known. But it occurs to me, that when, under the rule of Muhammadan sovereigns, Musulmáns first came to the city of Patná, and dwelt there, the people of India (for that reason) called them Patáns—but God knows!
-Ferishta, 1560–1620Comment
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Training suicide bombers was job of Qari hussain. May be he had taken over the job after Qari's death but it is highly unlikely. Last time i checked he was commander of south waziristan and deputy. He was a planner and startagist basically.Originally posted by Talal View Post
Like khushal said TTP is decentralized, you would see soon another one, a mehsud most likely, making his name...ahasanallah ehsan might be made deputy , because wali ur rehman himself was once spokesperson of baitullah mehsud..
And dont think that they lack people to lead them now. They are now fighting for an almost decade...and have large number of seasoned fighters...it is said that hakimullah is poor leader but good fighter, but things work because they have shura , its not one man show.....Comment
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