Hakimullah Mehsud: Dead or alive?
Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud may be dead, according to reports citing anonymous American officials that have emerged over the weekend.
Reuters broke the news Friday, with reporter Adam Entous citing a "defense official" and a "counterterrorism" official saying Mehsud's death is a "distinct possibility." Both officials said that Mehsud "was believed to have been shot weeks ago during a clash with a rival group in South Waziristan." A follow-up story by AFP says that officials believe Mehsud's death may be the result of factional infighting among the Tehriq-i-Taliban, the organization Mehsud was running. But Bill Roggio of the Long War Journal finds reasons to doubt the reports.
First of all, rumors of Hakimullah Mehsud's death haven't been spreading in Taliban areas. Usually someone's death circulates in rumors before Western agencies begin to speculate, Roggio says. And there haven't been reports of a high-level shura to decide on a potential successor, as there were when Mehsud's predecessor and former commander, Baitullah Mehsud, was killed in a Predator drone strike.
Furthermore, the government has wrongly claimed to have killed Mehsud on at least one previous occasion, prompting Mehsud to make media calls to reaffirm his continued existence.
On the other hand, Roggio acknowledges a few facts that could weigh in favor of Mehsud being dead: He hasn't made public statements since Sept. 16; his brother, Kamiullah Mehsud, was killed early last week during a Taliban assault on a Pakistani base in North Waziristan; and the Taliban was able to conceal Baitullah's death for weeks.
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Categories: Pakistan, Regional News, War and Terrorism, War in Afghanistan
Tags: AFP, Baitullah Mehsud, Bill Roggio, Hakimullah Mehsud, Kamiullah Mehsud, Long War Journal, North Waziristan, Pakistan, Predator, Reaper, Reuters, Taliban, Tehrik-e-Taliban, Tehriq-i-Taliban
2 Comments
Pakistan intelligence has been claiming for weeks - since that weekend with the shura fight - that Hakimullah is dead. Its surprising that this story has re-emerged again.
I also disagree that the TTP were able to keep Baitullah's death a secret: US and Pak intelligence/govt sources had more or less confirmed it in the days after the drone strike. It really made them look ridiculous to have not confirmed it immediately.
Also, about that call Hakimullah made? The government doesn't think it was his voice. But Rahimullah Yusufzai reports in The News that they may be able to clear up the confusion in a few days, but if Hakimullah's dead, I doubt this will happen:
"The situation regarding Hakimullah's fate could become clear in a day or two as the TTP had plans to invite journalists to its South Waziristan stronghold to meet its commanders. The last time Hakimullah met members of the media was in Orakzai Agency, but that was when Baitullah was alive and the former was commander for the tribal agencies of Orakzai, Khyber and Kurram."
Interestingly, a brief video eulogy for Baytullah Mehsud was released several days ago, featuring a "Mawlawi Wali al-Rahman" who is identified as a "mujahid-Amir" for the "Ma'soud Tribe." His face is obscured in the video, which comes in both Arabic and Urdu versions. The voice in each seems to be the same, at least to the naked ear.
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