US drone strike kills Mullah Nazir: Sources

[Jango]

US/Pentagon is not confirming this news - they have welcomed it - thats all for now. remember hakimullah mehsud!!!

There have been confirmed reports that his Janaza has taken place, and there were announcements on loud speakers of his death.

 

[Sugarcane]

Bahawal Khan to succeed Pakistan militant leader Mullah Nazir

A successor to Pakistani militant leader Mullah Nazir, who was killed in a US drone strike, has been announced.

Bahawal Khan, who also goes by the name Salahuddin Ayubi, has taken command of Mullah Nazir's group, officials say.

Mullah Nazir died when two missiles struck his vehicle in the tribal area of South Waziristan on Wednesday.

He headed one of four major insurgent factions in Pakistan's north-west and was a key figure in supplying fighters and support to the Afghan Taliban.

"Ayubi, whose real name is Bahawal Khan, was appointed as top commander of the group after Nazir's funeral," a Pakistani intelligence official told the AFP news agency.

Clerics and tribal elders had backed the appointment, a spokesman for the militant faction told the Express Tribune newspaper.

Bahawal Khan, said to be aged 34 and an illiterate former bus driver, is a long-time close associate of Mullah Nazir, the two men having fought together alongside the Taliban in Afghanistan before the 2001 US invasion.

BBC correspondents say Bilawal Khan is seen as hot-tempered, unlike his predecessor. But he is nevertheless expected to maintain the tribal consensus that Mullah Nazir had built up to keep his power base around the town of Wana largely peaceful.

In recent years there have been divisions among Taliban militant groups based in Pakistan's tribal areas.
'Significant blow'

Mullah Nazir was one of the most high-profile insurgents killed by US drones. The faction he led straddles the border with Afghanistan.

For the Americans, he is a prized catch, as he headed one of the three major militant groups in the Waziristan region that focused their attacks on Nato-led troops in neighbouring Afghanistan, the BBC's M Ilyas Khan in Islamabad says.
Continue reading the main story

Bahawal Khan

Aged 34 and father of two young sons
Born in Tanai village, South Waziristan
From Kakakhel sub-tribe of Ahmadzai Wazirs
Uneducated, he was a bus driver and ran a hotel
Fought against Indian troops in Kashmir
Fought with the Afghan Taliban before 9/11
Helped expel Uzbek fighters from Wana in 2007

Militant death spells trouble for Pakistan
Obituary: Mullah Nazir

But his killing will be viewed by some as a dent in Pakistan's preparations for the departure of foreign troops from Afghanistan, our correspondent adds.

Pakistan has worked hard to maintain a crucial strategic balance in Waziristan by forging peace with militant factions focused on the Afghan insurgency rather than on targets inside Pakistan.

Mullah Nazir had formed an alliance with the government and opposed the fourth main militant faction, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which has concentrated its fire inside Pakistan since 2007.

He was also seen as an enemy of militants from the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), and was praised by Pakistan for expelling Uzbek and other foreign fighters from Pakistan in that year.

Observers say there have been fears that Mullah Nazir's death could upset this delicate balance, especially if the TTP, which is linked to the Mehsud tribe, is able to force an advantage in Wana.

In recent months, the TTP has also carried out a number of attacks against the Wazir tribe in Wana, including a suicide bombing in November that injured Mullah Nazir.

BBC News - Bahawal Khan to succeed Pakistan militant leader Mullah Nazir

 

[Amolthebest]

So what's current procedure for drone attacs on Pakistan soil? Is US informed your government or Army before those attacks?

 

[Gandalf]

Good news.

For me the good Taliban for Pakistanis is my Bad Taliban for and Bad Taliban for Pakistanis is Good taliban for me.

 

[Sashan]

Good news.

For me the the good Taliban for Pakistanis is my Bad Taliban for and Bad Taliban for Pakistanis is Good taliban for me.

Any militant/terrorist organizations can change their priorities at a moment's notice. In short, there is no good militants or Taliban in this case. Remember the recent news? - TTP offers to fight India as part of the peace deal offering. So what do you make of it?

 

[notsuperstitious]

Any militant/terrorist organizations can change their priorities at a moment's notice. In short, there is no good militants or Taliban in this case. Remember the recent news? - TTP offers to fight India as part of the peace deal offering. So what do you make of it?

Yes, while the complete unaccountability of these groups is something pakistan has exploited to hurt india / afghanistan with plausible deniability, the same unaccountability makes it difficult to control them and thats hurting pakistan too.

For me, any militant that pakistan considers good is good dead.

 

[nair]

Any militant/terrorist organizations can change their priorities at a moment's notice. In short, there is no good militants or Taliban in this case. Remember the recent news? - TTP offers to fight India as part of the peace deal offering. So what do you make of it?

I totally agree with your first part..... Terrorists are like snakes in your backyard..... They are good as long as they are not biting you...

But i disagree with your second part because it sounds like India has something to do with TTP.... I dont think india will never risk anything that sort.... TTP is a terrorist organisation now fighting pakistan for a stupid cause.... and it wont take much time for them to change their stance ( May be a hell fire missile fired on the current leader and the new leader may have a different ideology)

 

[Sashan]

I totally agree with your first part..... Terrorists are like snakes in your backyard..... They are good as long as they are not biting you...

But i disagree with your second part because it sounds like India has something to do with TTP.... I dont think india will never risk anything that sort.... TTP is a terrorist organisation now fighting pakistan for a stupid cause.... and it wont take much time for them to change their stance ( May be a hell fire missile fired on the current leader and the new leader may have a different ideology)

Mate - Read my post carefully. I have not suggested that India has links with TTP. In short, my message was TTP or Afghan Taliban - these guys are not good guys.


The Hindu : News / International : TTP peace offer: train guns on India

 

[nair]

Mate - Read my post carefully. I have not suggested that India has links with TTP. In short, my message was TTP or Afghan Taliban - these guys are not good guys.


The Hindu : News / International : TTP peace offer: train guns on India

I know that... But our freinds here may quote you worngly for what i mentioned....

 

[Sashan]

I know that... But our freinds here may quote you worngly for what i mentioned....

Bro - my message is as clear as it gets

"TTP offers to fight India as part of the peace deal offering" - I said - "fight India" and did not say "fight for India"

 

[Gandalf]

Any militant/terrorist organizations can change their priorities at a moment's notice. In short, there is no good militants or Taliban in this case. Remember the recent news? - TTP offers to fight India as part of the peace deal offering. So what do you make of it?

Exactly but for now,TTP is not against us officially.They target exclusively Pakistani targets.

Same is applicable for Afghan Taliban:

he Taliban statement goes beyond giving its reactions to the perceived lack of positive outcome to Panetta's discussions in New Delhi. It repeats a formulation of September 1998 of the Taliban, issued when it was in power in Kabul, in which it had expressed its benign intentions towards India and sought to remove any impression that it might be hostile to Indian interests because of India's close association with the government of Najibullah.

It had claimed in that statement that the Taliban did not believe in exporting jihad to other countries and that while the Taliban supported the right of the Kashmiris to self-determination, it would not get involved in the insurgency on the ground in Jammu & Kashmir. An analysis made by me in September 1999 on the attitude of the Taliban and Al Qaeda to India may be seen here.

'India must not ignore Taliban's positive feelers' - Rediff.com News

Remember Afghan Taliban also kicked out Harkat Ul Mujahideen camps in Afghanistan in 90's.