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Pakistani Taliban release video refuting rumors of leadership rift.
By BILL ROGGIODecember 28, 2012
Waliur Rehman Mehsud (left) and Hakeemullah Mehsud (right), from their latest propaganda tape. Image from Dawn.
The Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan released a videotape today that refutes the longstanding rumors of a split among the highest leadership of the organization. The group's emir, Hakeemullah Mehsud, also said that the Pakistani Taliban are allied with both the Afghan Taliban and al Qaeda.
The Pakistani Taliban released the videotape to both Reuters and Dawn. In the video, Hakeemullah is seen seated alongside his deputy and the group's leader in South Waziristan, Waliur Rehman Mehsud.
"There is no divide in the Tehrik-e-Taliban [Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan]," Hakeemullah said. "I and Maulvi Waliur Rehman are one, and look, we are sitting together. The propaganda of a rift in Taliban ranks is totally untrue."
Hakeemullah also denied that he and Waliur Rehman are at odds over negotiations with the Pakistani government. Hakeemullah said that the Taliban have negotiated with the government in the past, and pointed to the Sararogha agreement that was signed by his predecessor, Baitullah Mehsud. But Hakeemullah said that the Taliban would not lay down their arms as the government is being directed by the US; instead he said he would agree only to a ceasefire.
The Pakistani government has signed numerous peace agreements with the Taliban in the past, but has denied doing so. The peace agreements allowed the Taliban to take over large areas of Pakistan's northwest.
Hakeemullah's appearance with Waliur Rehman confirms multiple reports by The Long War Journal that the Pakistani government has conducted an information operation to portray the Pakistani Taliban as divided. The Pakistani government has wrongly claimed that the two leaders killed each other in a fight over the succession of Baitullah, and in the past year has said multiple times that Hakeemullah has been sidelined by Waliur Rehman [for details, see Threat Matrix report, Pakistani officials promoting false split in Taliban leadership cadres, again].
Pakistani Taliban "with" Afghan Taliban, al Qaeda
Hakeemullah said that the Pakistani Taliban would take direction from the Afghan Taliban and its emir, Mullah Mohammed Omar, on how to react to the US drawdown in Afghanistan. Additionally, he said the groups are closely allied.
"We are Afghan Taliban and Afghan Taliban are us," he said. "We are with them and al Qaeda. We are even willing to get our heads cut off for al Qaeda."
htp://ww.longwarjournal.org/archives/2012/12/pakistani_taliban_re_4.php#ixzz2GRPXQzht
Bill Roggios analysis was right on spot:
Pakistani officials promoting false split in Taliban leadership cadres, again.
By BILL ROGGIODecember 6, 2012 11:20 AM
Hakeemullah Mehsud [center right] as he organized the attack on a prison in Bannu.
For some reason, Reuters seems to want to perpetuate the myth that Hakeemullah Mehsud and Waliur Rehman Mehsud, the top two leaders of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, are "at each other's throats," a claim that Waliur Rehman himself has denied. Back in January, I debunked the claims, and the long-awaited clash between the two never materialized. You can read about that here.
Eleven months later, Reuters pretty much writes the same story. This time, unnamed Pakistani military sources are making the claims. But in the process of making the case for the split between the two leaders, the Pakistani officials tell an easily demonstrable lie. And "lie" isn't a term I use easily around here, but in this case, it applies.
While making the case that Hakeemullah is no longer in charge of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan's operations, Pakistani officials told Reuters the following:
Intelligence officials said Mehsud had not commanded any recent operations, including an August 16 attack on the Minhas Airbase in Pakistan and a suicide attack on a street market in May that killed 24 people.
Military sources said Rehman planned the April 15 jail break in Bannu in Pakistan that freed 384 prisoners, including an estimated 200 Taliban members and an al Qaeda-linked militant who had attempted to assassinate former president Pervez Musharraf.
Now, the officials aren't clear how they know Hakeemullah wasn't involved in the Minhas suicide assault; it does fit the profile of other attacks he directed.
But the real kicker is the Bannu prison break. We know for a fact that Hakeemullah was involved. How do we know? The Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan released a videotape of the operations, in which both Waliur Rehman and Hakeemullah appeared. And guess what? Hakeemullah himself appears on the videotape where the Taliban are staging to conduct the attack. You can see him there, and you can see his men surrounding him. So we know for certain that Hakeemullah was indeed directly involved in the Bannu prison break. The Pakistani officials who tracked the Bannu prison break would also know this.
Pakistani officials have been promoting a split between Hakeemullah Mehsud and Waliur Rehman Mehsud for years, beginning with the fake battle at the shura to succeed Bailtullah Mehsud, the emir of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan who was killed in an August 2009 drone strike. The battle never happened, yet Pakistani officials insist to this day that it did. We've covered this, and other such nonsense, extensively at The Long War Journal.
Dare I say that Pakistani officials are using Reuters and other news agencies as part of a not-so-sophisticated information operation designed to split the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan's top leadership? It is high time that news organizations see through this patently obvious nonsense.
htp://ww.longwarjournal.org/threat-matrix/archives/2012/12/pakistani_officials_promoting.php#ixzz2GRPpgXzD
By BILL ROGGIODecember 28, 2012
Waliur Rehman Mehsud (left) and Hakeemullah Mehsud (right), from their latest propaganda tape. Image from Dawn.
The Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan released a videotape today that refutes the longstanding rumors of a split among the highest leadership of the organization. The group's emir, Hakeemullah Mehsud, also said that the Pakistani Taliban are allied with both the Afghan Taliban and al Qaeda.
The Pakistani Taliban released the videotape to both Reuters and Dawn. In the video, Hakeemullah is seen seated alongside his deputy and the group's leader in South Waziristan, Waliur Rehman Mehsud.
"There is no divide in the Tehrik-e-Taliban [Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan]," Hakeemullah said. "I and Maulvi Waliur Rehman are one, and look, we are sitting together. The propaganda of a rift in Taliban ranks is totally untrue."
Hakeemullah also denied that he and Waliur Rehman are at odds over negotiations with the Pakistani government. Hakeemullah said that the Taliban have negotiated with the government in the past, and pointed to the Sararogha agreement that was signed by his predecessor, Baitullah Mehsud. But Hakeemullah said that the Taliban would not lay down their arms as the government is being directed by the US; instead he said he would agree only to a ceasefire.
The Pakistani government has signed numerous peace agreements with the Taliban in the past, but has denied doing so. The peace agreements allowed the Taliban to take over large areas of Pakistan's northwest.
Hakeemullah's appearance with Waliur Rehman confirms multiple reports by The Long War Journal that the Pakistani government has conducted an information operation to portray the Pakistani Taliban as divided. The Pakistani government has wrongly claimed that the two leaders killed each other in a fight over the succession of Baitullah, and in the past year has said multiple times that Hakeemullah has been sidelined by Waliur Rehman [for details, see Threat Matrix report, Pakistani officials promoting false split in Taliban leadership cadres, again].
Pakistani Taliban "with" Afghan Taliban, al Qaeda
Hakeemullah said that the Pakistani Taliban would take direction from the Afghan Taliban and its emir, Mullah Mohammed Omar, on how to react to the US drawdown in Afghanistan. Additionally, he said the groups are closely allied.
"We are Afghan Taliban and Afghan Taliban are us," he said. "We are with them and al Qaeda. We are even willing to get our heads cut off for al Qaeda."
htp://ww.longwarjournal.org/archives/2012/12/pakistani_taliban_re_4.php#ixzz2GRPXQzht
Bill Roggios analysis was right on spot:
Pakistani officials promoting false split in Taliban leadership cadres, again.
By BILL ROGGIODecember 6, 2012 11:20 AM
Hakeemullah Mehsud [center right] as he organized the attack on a prison in Bannu.
For some reason, Reuters seems to want to perpetuate the myth that Hakeemullah Mehsud and Waliur Rehman Mehsud, the top two leaders of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, are "at each other's throats," a claim that Waliur Rehman himself has denied. Back in January, I debunked the claims, and the long-awaited clash between the two never materialized. You can read about that here.
Eleven months later, Reuters pretty much writes the same story. This time, unnamed Pakistani military sources are making the claims. But in the process of making the case for the split between the two leaders, the Pakistani officials tell an easily demonstrable lie. And "lie" isn't a term I use easily around here, but in this case, it applies.
While making the case that Hakeemullah is no longer in charge of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan's operations, Pakistani officials told Reuters the following:
Intelligence officials said Mehsud had not commanded any recent operations, including an August 16 attack on the Minhas Airbase in Pakistan and a suicide attack on a street market in May that killed 24 people.
Military sources said Rehman planned the April 15 jail break in Bannu in Pakistan that freed 384 prisoners, including an estimated 200 Taliban members and an al Qaeda-linked militant who had attempted to assassinate former president Pervez Musharraf.
Now, the officials aren't clear how they know Hakeemullah wasn't involved in the Minhas suicide assault; it does fit the profile of other attacks he directed.
But the real kicker is the Bannu prison break. We know for a fact that Hakeemullah was involved. How do we know? The Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan released a videotape of the operations, in which both Waliur Rehman and Hakeemullah appeared. And guess what? Hakeemullah himself appears on the videotape where the Taliban are staging to conduct the attack. You can see him there, and you can see his men surrounding him. So we know for certain that Hakeemullah was indeed directly involved in the Bannu prison break. The Pakistani officials who tracked the Bannu prison break would also know this.
Pakistani officials have been promoting a split between Hakeemullah Mehsud and Waliur Rehman Mehsud for years, beginning with the fake battle at the shura to succeed Bailtullah Mehsud, the emir of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan who was killed in an August 2009 drone strike. The battle never happened, yet Pakistani officials insist to this day that it did. We've covered this, and other such nonsense, extensively at The Long War Journal.
Dare I say that Pakistani officials are using Reuters and other news agencies as part of a not-so-sophisticated information operation designed to split the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan's top leadership? It is high time that news organizations see through this patently obvious nonsense.
htp://ww.longwarjournal.org/threat-matrix/archives/2012/12/pakistani_officials_promoting.php#ixzz2GRPpgXzD
