TTP camps

[Zarvan]

If the United States was interested in punishing the TTP terror group after the murder of seven CIA agents in Khost in 2009, all that the US army and the CIA had to do was pull a few strings within the Afghan spy service, the NDS, and flush out TTP terrorists from the many camps that thrive on the Afghan soil and are used to plan and execute terror attacks inside Pakistan.

Even now one of those camps hosts Mullah Fazlullah, the terrorist who ordered the attack on Malala Yousafzai. Fazlullah and his gang were successfully flushed out by the Pakistani military from Swat but he ironically found a place to hide in American-controlled Afghanistan.

If the CIA really wanted to do us a favour, it could start with the TTP terror camps in Afghanistan. But it didn’t. Instead, when the TTP showed willingness to talk about ending terrorism, the CIA intervened and hit the group citing a list of justifications.

The agency is trying hard to underplay the timing but there is no way to walk around the fact that the TTP chief was taken out precisely because the terror group showed willingness to take the first step toward possible peace in Pakistan. Even Hamid Karzai has said as much.

Washington realises this fact, which is why the official media spinners in DC have gone on the defensive, launching a campaign to justify the Hakeemullah assassination. American officials have even cited the attempted amateur car bombing in New York City in 2010 as a reason for the assassination, even though the evidence in that case is tenuous at best.

This is not about defending the TTP or its terrorist chief Hakeemullah. This is about Pakistan’s right to extricate itself from the US’ messy and failed war in Afghanistan. The US needs to reign in the CIA and coordinate actions with Pakistan. American policy in Afghanistan cannot succeed without taking Pakistani concerns and interests along.

Talking to the disparate and odd groups that we collectively call the TTP is an integral part of the process to stabilise our western border. To end the TTP, we need to engage with those misguided Pakistanis who joined the group in the belief that killing Pakistanis would somehow help end the foreign occupation of Afghanistan.

If the engagement is successful, it would help isolate the core group of terrorists within TTP who receive weapons and funding from actors in Afghanistan as part of a regional proxy war. The TTP militants are no angels, but it is important to neutralise misguided Pakistanis before taking on the core group that wants to go down fighting.

This is why engaging willing groups within the TTP in peace talks is a good option. Why is the CIA trying to disturb this option and dictate policy?

Pakistan should put on the table a credible threat of blocking Nato transit routes and action against CIA drones if Washington tries to obstruct our efforts to end the civil war on our western border.

It is unfortunate that an influential group of commentators is out to confuse the Pakistani public opinion on talks with the TTP. This group is unconditionally defending American policy.

Another thing we need to point out to US officials is the danger of allowing the CIA to once again lead the American policy on Pakistan. The assassination of the TTP chief when he was about to engage in dialogue with the Pakistani government amounts to an attempt by the CIA to hijack our internal policy options and force the US government to take a stand on an internal Pakistani matter.

The CIA bears substantial responsibility for America’s military defeat in Afghanistan and for worsening Pakistan-US ties. CIA’s present and former officials love to shift the blame on to Pakistan for the Afghan defeat and portray Islamabad as the architect of that defeat. President Obama should make it clear to the CIA that it cannot dictate policy options to Pakistan or act on matters that concern us without our consent.

One of the best things Pakistan can do to neutralise willing groups within the TTP and isolate the hardcore elements is to declare neutrality in Afghanistan and announce that it won’t take part in military operations to fight against Afghan groups, including the Afghan Taliban. We can declare neutrality while still supporting the peace process in Afghanistan. This will destroy one of the main excuses the TTP uses to recruit gullible Pakistanis.

Email: aq@projectpakistan21.org
http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-9-212452-TTP-camps

 

[fatman17]

Tehrik Taliban-i Pakistan (TTiP)
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan
Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is a Pakistan-based terrorist organization formed in 2007 in opposition to Pakistani military efforts in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. Previously disparate militant tribes agreed to cooperate and eventually coalesced into TTP under the leadership of Baitullah Mehsud. Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan is a network of at least a dozen groups that claimed responsibility for suicide bombings across Pakistan.


Tehrik Taliban-i Pakistan (TTiP / TTP - Movement of Studens in Pakistan) was an umbrella organization for indigenous Pakistani Taliban commanders, based in Pakistan, in the FATA. The name "Tehrik-i-Taliban" had been used prior to the latest December 14 announcement. An organization with a similar name emerged in FATA's Orakzai Agency in 1998. Some reports also mention a similar organization by the name of Tehrik-i- Tulaba (Movement of Students) also operating in Orakzai Agency that even established an active Shari`a court. The name and idea, therefore, is not original.

The Waziris, who by 1910 numbered some 40,000 fighting men altogether, were at that time divided into two main sections, the Darwesh Khel (30,000) and the Mahsuds (8,000), with two smaller sections. The Mahsuds, who then inhabited the tract of country lying between the Tochi Valley on the north and the Gomal river on the south, had earned for themselves an evil name as the most confirmed raiders on the border; but they were a plucky race, as active over the hills as the Afridis [in the Khyber Agency], and next to them the best-armed large tribe on the frontier. From Wana to Tank, from Tank to Bannu, and from Bannu to Datta Khel, for a distance of over 200 miles, British territory in India before the Great War was open to Mahsud depredations.

The Government of Pakistan sought stability along the border with Afghanistan by continuing their traditional policy, which followed in the footsteps of the British Raj. Pakistan achieved a series "truces" with local leaders in 2004, 2005, and 2006. In February 2005 the Pakistani military reached a peace deal with Baitullah Mahsud, and withdrew its forces from check points in the region. A Pakistan Army spokesman confirmed that a November 2004 deal included giving Baitullah Mehsud and three other tribal leaders about $540,000 to repay loans they had taken from Al Qaeda. Abdullah Mehsud vowed to continue his "jihad" despite the pact between the Pakistan government and several of his former allies. In mid-2006, Islamabad struck a peace deal with insurgents in North Waziristan. Pakistan agreed to end military operations and remove local checkpoints, in return for an halt in insurgent attacks on government officials.

Abdullah Mehsud [Mehsud being the tribal name, not a family name], a graduate of the Gomal University, spent 25 months in the US-run Camp X-ray until his release in March 2004 [it remains unclear why he was released]. He lost a leg in a landmine explosion as the Taleban fought to take over the Afghan capital Kabul in 1996. The one-legged commander had been captured when fighting with the Taliban in 2001 in Afghanistan. Soon after his release Abdullah Mehsud ordered the kidnapping of two Chinese engineers to pressurize the government into halting counter-terrorism operations in the tribal region bordering Afghanistan.

By December 2004 Abdullah Mehsud was "the self-proclaimed local leader" and Baitullah Mehsud was "the commander of militant forces in Mehsud territory". In January 2005 Abdullah Mehsud and Baitullah Mehsud were on the wanted list of the authorities for their alleged involvement in attacks on troops in the Mehsud-dominated areas of the South Waziristan which borders Afghanistan. Abdullah Mehsud, carrying a reward of Rs5 million on his head, was accused of being involved in the kidnapping of the two Chinese engineers. In January 2007 Baitullah Mehsud was said to be a lieutenant to the tribal leader, Abdullah Mehsud, who had been leading local militants in the region. By March 2007 Baitullah Mehsud was said to be "the most powerful Taliban leader in South Waziristan." In July 2007 Abdullah Mehsud died in south-western Balochistan province, reportedly at the age of 32 years old. Pakistan interior ministry spokesman Javed Cheema told the AFP news agency that Mehsud blew himself up with a hand grenade after soldiers raided a hideout in the Zhob district of Balochistan. Abdullah Mehsud had been in Afghanistan for more than a year and that there was no evidence that he organized the recent violence in Pakistan.

Baitullah Mahsud, chieftain of the Mahsud tribe in South Waziristan as of 2008, was reportedly 34 years old in 1987, suggesting he was born around 1983. Baitullah Mehsud did not attend schooling or religious madrasa. He shunned media and refused to be photographed, indicating that he stood by the Taliban version of Islam.

By 2008 Baitullah Mehsud reportedly commanded 5,000 fighters, while other reports said he commanded about 20,000 pro-Taleban militants, and a report in 2006 had estimated Baitullah Mehsud commanded an army of 30,000 fighters. All these estimates, and surely the larger one, must refer to combat-inclined men under arms rather than the number in the field fighting, given the generally modest operational tempo exhibited by Baitullah Mehsud's followers. Baitullah Mehsud was said to operate with relative impunity in Federally Administered Tribal Areas [FATA], though this claim was contradicted by his disputes with local commanders outside his Mehsud tribal area in South Waziristan. Baitullah Mahsud had reportedly built up strongholds in North and South Waziristan by recruiting and training young men, and "killing uncooperative tribal leaders."

Some accounts said that he operated under the legendary Afghan Taleban commander, Jalaluddin Haqqani. Other accounts claim that Mehsud was independent of the Afghan Taliban and Al Qaeda in Pakistan - but he was giving them sanctuary and they were training his forces.
Baitullah Mehsud may have been among the most irreconcilable of elements in western Pakistan. Baitullah Mehsud was once quoted as saying, "Only Jihad can bring peace to the world." Mehsud refused to recognize the Durand Line as a legitimate frontier and has explicitly ruled out any end to the "jihad in Afghanistan." The NWFP governor claimed that Mehsud oversaw an annual money flow of up to three billion Pakistani rupees (about $45 million) to sustain his regional militancy. Most of this money was said to be raised through trafficking in drugs. Mehsud and his organization were reportedly used by the Government of Pakistan as conduits for the payment of compensation to local residents affected by the fighting in South Waziristan.

Baitullah Mehsud issued vows to avenge Pakistani military and paramilitary attacks in the region in early 2007; he reportedly has been linked to at least four anti-government suicide bombings in Pakistan and in 2007 emerged as a major challenge to Islamabad's writ in the tribal areas.

On 30 August 2007 some 250 Pakistani soldiers, including a colonel and 8 other officers, were taken prisoner when pro-Taliban militants ambushed their convoy in South Waziristan. The troops apparently offered no resistance before surrendering to Islamist extremists reportedly loyal to fugitive commander Baitullah Mahsud. President Musharraf later criticized the troops for taking insufficient precautionary measures. Only hours after Musharraf's November 3 emergency decree, the militants released 211 of the troops. Reports indicate that government authorities had released 25 detained militants in exchange, including several men said to be convicted aspiring suicide bombers.

On 23 October 2007, a credible newspaper in Pakistan disclosed that five militant groups joined hands to set up an organization named Tehrik-i-Taliban in Mohmand Agency with a goal "to flush out gangs carrying out criminal activities in the name of Taliban." Other reports stated that the Tehriki-Taliban Pakistan umbrella organization of the Pakistani Taliban groups was formed in December 2007.

The 27 December 2007 assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, in a suicide bombing after a political rally in Rawalpindi, was the most prominent suicide attack of the year. Pakistani government officials quickly blamed pro-Taliban and Al Qaeda-linked militant Baitullah Mehsud for Bhutto's killing. Through a spokesman, Mehsud has denied any involvement in the killing. The Government of Pakistan immediately stated that Baitullah Mahsud, a leading Pakistani Taliban commander with close ties to AQ, was responsible for the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. In Pakistan there was a massive outburst of rage against Musharraf and everything associated with his government, including the government's claim that it had evidence that the Pakistani Taliban, led by Baitullah Mahsud, carried out the assassination, claiming they had intercepted a telephone conversation in which Mehsud took credit for the act.

Supporters of Benazir Bhutto remained skeptical of the country's initial investigation that concluded al-Qaida or Taliban assassins most likely killed her in December 2007. The initial investigation by Pakistani authorities into the gun and suicide bomb attack that killed her after a political rally in Rawalpindi blamed Baitullah Mehsud, a Pakistani Taliban commander. US intelligence officials also named him as the most likely suspect. Her supporters have rejected those findings, suggesting that Ms. Bhutto's political opponents may have been involved and tampered with the investigation. British investigators later largely confirmed the initial findings, although admitted their access to evidence was limited.

In South Waziristan, Baitullah Mehsud's forces conducted successful assaults on key forts in Ladha, Sararogha and Seplatoi between 10 and 17 January 2008. Although the Pakistani security forces had generally been successful in rolling back such gains, even the temporary loss of control over towns or military facilities represents a significant blow to the legitimacy and credibility of the government.

On 19 January 2008, 14 men were arrested by Spanish authorities in Barcelona, 12 of whom were Pakistani. Police found what they said was bomb-related material in a number of raids. One of the plotters reportedly told an informant, "Only the leadership of the organization knows what requests the emir [Mehsud] will make after the first attack, but if they are not carried out, there will be a second attack in Spain, and a third. And then in Germany, France, Portugal and the United Kingdom. There are many people prepared there."

On Feb. 10, 2008 Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said the war on terror in Afghanistan is Europe's war. "Many who have been arrested have had direct connections to al Qaeda," he said. "Some have met with top leaders or attended training camps abroad. Some are connected to al Qaeda in Iraq. In the most recent case, the Barcelona cell appears to have ties to a terrorist training network run by Baitullah Mehsud, a Pakistan-based extremist commander affiliated with the Taliban and al Qaeda - who we believe was responsible for the assassination of (former Pakistani Prime Minister) Benazir Bhutto."

In early- and mid-2008, Pakistani forces pulled back from TTiP's stronghold in Waziristan. These deals did not lead to greater stability. In a video interview recorded in August 2008, Maulvi Omar, the official spokesman of TTP, claimed that the organization was responsible for the foiled suicide bombing plot. When asked whether the TTP could ever carry out an attack against the West, Omar replied: "The one in Barcelona was conducted by twelve of our men. They were under pledge to Baitullah Mehsud and TTP has already claimed responsibility, because Spain's military presence in Afghanistan."

The Islamabad government formally banned the TTP in August 2008 due to its alleged involvement in a series of domestic suicide attacks. TTP is said to have a presence in all seven agencies of FATA and many districts in NWFP. By early 2009 TTP was characterized as "a conglomerate of between 30-40 militant groups operating in agencies of Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA)." A shura of 40 senior Taliban leaders established the TTP as an umbrella organization. Militant commander Baitullah Mehsud was appointed as its amir, Maulana Hafiz Gul Bahadur of North Waziristan as senior naib amir (deputy) and Maulana Faqir Muhammad of Bajaur Agency as the third in command.

As Steve Emerson noted : "These tribal and Taliban militias, however, are vulnerable in one sense: there is a certain amount of tension and discord stemming from disagreements and inter-tribal distrust. One example of this is an apparent schism between Mehsud and Hafiz Gul Bahadur, another Taliban leader in Waziristan and deputy commander of TTP, Mehsud's umbrella organization. While Bahadur and Mehsud are leaders of the same organization, they are of different tribes. Bahadur was among the signatories of the peace deal between the Pakistani government and North Waziristan in September 2006, mentioned above. Bahadur has resisted Mehsud's efforts too coordinate attacks in North Waziristan, which is Bahadur's turf. Bahadur has even negotiated independent ceasefires and truces with the Pakistani Army and told Mehsud to steer clear of North Waziristan."

On 01 October 2008 Military officials in the field confirmed to CNN that Mehsud had died. Geo Television of Pakistan and other local stations also reported his death. Mehsud is said to have succumbed to kidney failure. The reports of his death were greatly exagerated.

When Baitullah Mehsud's TTP became a serious threat to the government, the government tried to unite other militant groups against Baitullah Mehsud, thus, bringing together Hafiz Gul Bahadur and Maulvi Nazeer. By 21 February 2009 a 14-member Shura of Pakistani and Afghan Taliban commanders played a role in resolving differences among the three militant commanders. Leaders of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Baitullah Mehsud, Hafiz Gul Bahadur, Taliban commander in North Waziristan and Maulvi Nazeer, militant commander in South Waziristan pardoned each other for the previous killings of their people and material losses.

After a suspected US drone strike killed Baitullah Mehsud, Hakimullah Mehsud took charge of the Taliban in Pakistan in 2009. Hakimullah had been close to Baitullah, being appointed his chief spokesman in 2007. Hakimullah became known as a rising star within the Taliban and masterminded a series of attacks on NATO supply vehicles headed for Afghanistan. Thought to be responsible for thousands of deaths, Hakimullah Mehsud had a $5 million bounty placed on his head by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation. The Pakistani Taliban leader earned a reputation for being "fiery," "aggressive" and "reckless."

TTP claimed to have supported the failed attempt by Faisal Shahzad to detonate an explosive device in New York City’s Times Square on May 1, 2010. TTP’s claim was validated by investigations that revealed that TTP directed and facilitated the plot. Throughout 2011, TTP carried out attacks against the Government of Pakistan and civilian targets, as well as against U.S. targets in Pakistan. Attacks in 2011 included: a March bombing at a gas station in Faisalabad that killed 31 people; an April double suicide bombing at a Sufi shrine in Dera Ghazi Khan that left more than 50 dead; a May bombing of an American consulate convoy in Peshawar that killed one person and injured 12; a May siege of a naval base in Karachi; and a September attack against a school bus that killed four children and the bus driver.

TTP continued to utilize the same tactics against similar targets in 2012. In March, a suicide bomber struck at a mosque in Khyber Agency, and killed over a dozen people while injuring approximately 10 others. In May, an attack in the Bajaur tribal region killed 24 people when a suicide bomber detonated his explosives at a police checkpoint near a crowded market. In August, TTP stormed a Pakistani Air Force base in Kamra; five Pakistani soldiers were killed in the ensuing firefight. Also in August, TTP militants pulled 22 Shia Muslims off busses in the remote Pakistani district of Manshera before shooting them dead.

The Pakistani army said it was investigating reports that Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud died from injuries sustained in a US drone missile strike in mid-January 2010. The army's announcement followed a report on Pakistani state television that Mehsud had died and has been buried. The Taliban has denied again Sunday that their leader was killed. Conflicting reports about the militant leader's death first surfaced after the January bombing in northwest Pakistan that killed at least a dozen militants. The Taliban released two audio tapes after the bombing as proof Mehsud survived the attack. Some reports say Mehsud may have been killed in another drone attack a few days later. Taliban spokesman Azam Tariq told the French News Agency that Mehsud is "alive and safe." He said media stories about Mehsud's death are meant "to create differences among Taliban ranks." Tariq said the Taliban had provided proof that Mehsud is alive, and that people who say he is dead "should provide proof." US officials had said they were more than 90 percent certain the militant leader had been killed. And in February, Pakistan's interior minister said there was "credible information" Mehsud was dead.

Pakistan's interior minister said he was unable to confirm reports in January 2012 that the leader of the Pakistani Taliban, Hakimullah Mehsud, was killed in a U.S. drone strike in the North Waziristan tribal region. Rehman Malik told reporters in Islamabad Monday that unless he has "DNA evidence" or confirmation from his own "independent sources," he will not say Mehsud is dead. Unnamed Pakistani intelligence officials said they had intercepted wireless radio conversations of the Taliban fighters discussing whether their chief was killed in the attack. Some of the overheard militants confirmed Mehsud was dead, while at least one criticized them for talking about it on the radio. There was no official confirmation from Pakistan, and the Taliban issued a denial.

The young leader was killed in a suspected US drone strike 01 November 2013. Hakimullah Mehsud was believed to be in his late 20s at the time. He had been reported dead before in attacks.

Khan Syed [aka Khalid Sajna] was appointed as new chief of Pakistan Taliban one day after the death of former leader Hakeemullah Mehsud who was killed in a U.S. drone strike. The consultative body of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) appointed Sajna the new chief of the outfit in a meeting held at a undisclosed place in the northwestern tribal region of North Waziristan.

Sajna, a close aide of former chief Hakeemullah, got 43 out of 60 votes of the consultative body.
Before his appointment as TTP Chief, Sajna has been leading the Taliban chapter of South Waziristan since May this year after a U. S. drone strike killed an important leader named Wali-ur-Rehman. Sajna, 36, was reportedly involved in some of the big terrorist attacks in Pakistan, including the attack on a naval base in Karachi and last year's jailbreak in which the Taliban freed around 400 inmates in the country's northwestern district of Bannu. According to reports, Sajna has no formal education, conventional or religious, but he is considered as a battle- hardened and experienced guerrilla battle commander.

gsorg.