TTP 'breaks apart'!!!

[asaad-ul-islam]

can't believe no one has posted this yet...

Top Taliban commander splits from Mehsud

Daily Times Monitor

LAHORE: Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud’s opponent faction in North Waziristan announced on Friday the creation of a new parallel organisation, the Muqami Tehreek-e-Taliban or local Taliban, effectively splitting from Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a report published on the AKI news agency website said.

The announcement was made by top commander and former Mehsud lieutenant Hafiz Gul Bahadar, the report said.

According to the report, “Bahadar also said a decision by a ‘shura’ or consultation council said that attacks against Pakistani security forces only weaken the cause of the Afghan resistance against foreign forces.” The council urged focus on “fighting against NATO troops in Afghanistan” instead.
The TTP “fell apart due to Mehsud’s violent policies against the Pakistani security forces,” it said.

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

 

[DarkStar]

OMG. If this is true, it is the exact thing that Pakistan needs to do. It should quickly move to establish links with any such commanders, and isolate the mischief makers.

If they want to continue operations in AFghanistan,so be it. It wouldn't be such a bad thing for Pakistan for the isaf forces to be kept busy in Afghanistan.

 

[S-2]

"It wouldn't be such a bad thing for Pakistan for the isaf forces to be kept busy in Afghanistan."

That's an irresponsible and dangerous comment by another know-nothing at this board.

Put away your dreams of "strategic space". Afghanistan is a sovereign nation. Seemingly, your sovereignty is sacrosanct but you've unusual notions of equal application for others.

Your best hope is the eventual emergance of an inclusive multi-cultural society in Afghanistan. Anything else will lead to war unending along your border.

Be careful for what you wish. You may get it in spades.

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

Gul bahadur has been wooed for a while now, and he is reportedly one of the most widely respected Tribal figures in the region.

In fact the alliance between him and Mullah Nazir (pro Pakistan) occurred a few months ago, though the official break from the TTP has only occurred now.

Mullah Nazir and Gul Bahadur have always been primarily focussed on fighting NATO in Afghanistan, and the Pakistani blind eye to their activities (and indeed outright support in some cases as we have used them to fight the TTP) has been among the causes of friction between the US and Pakistan.

Perhaps this reflects a shifting dynamic in Afghanistan, as Mullah Omar's taliban are reportedly offering to disavow Al Qaeda, and the breakup with the TTP may have come about as the TTP associates more and more with AQ and adopts its tactics of suicide bombings and attacks against civilians.

The situation is way too fluid right now IMO to construct any concrete analysis, and the reported 'talks' and 'reconciliation' between the GoA and Taliban may or may not provide an end to this madness. It isn't in our interest to have them keep NATO busy in Afghanistan, it is in our interest to use our influence (whatever that may be) to make sure that any opportunity of reconciliation in Afghanistan with the GoA is not wasted, and an end to violence brought about.

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

One other thing.

Gul Bahadur has never really subscribed to the TTP's policies of attacking the Pakistani military or carrying out ops. in Pakistan. So his official breakaway is not going to change the situation on the ground much.

The real culprits remain Maulvi faqir Muhammed, Qari Ziaur Rehman (Afghanistan), B Mehsud and Mullah FM.

The tribal nature of some of the Taliban groups soon became evident when militants in North Waziristan warned the Mehsud-led Taliban in neighboring South Waziristan not to launch attacks against the Pakistan Army in their part of the tribal region (The News International, January 30). The warning came from Hafiz Gul Bahadur, the amir of the Taliban in North Waziristan, despite the fact that he was earlier named deputy to Mehsud in the Tehrek-e-Taliban-Pakistan. Association with the TTP and being its deputy leader did not mean much when it came to the territorial and tribal limits of each Taliban group and commander. Hafiz Gul Bahadur was particularly furious when Mehsud’s men started firing rockets into the army’s camp at Razmak, a town in North Waziristan, during the recent fighting between the military and the Mehsud-commanded militants.

It was also evident that Hafiz Gul Bahadur and his Taliban fighters failed to abide by one of the major decisions of the TTP by refusing to coordinate attacks on the security forces in North Waziristan to help ease pressure on the Taliban fighting under Mehsud’s command in South Waziristan. This failure defied a Taliban decision that every Taliban group was required to come to the assistance of others in its area of operation that were under attack from the Pakistan Army.
The Impact of Pashtun Tribal Differences on the Pakistani Taliban