Confusion Trails Reported Death of Taliban Leader

Hakimullah Mehsud was reported to have been killed. (A Majeed/AFP/Getty)

From Wall Street Journal:

Officials struggled Monday to figure out what is going on inside the Pakistan Taliban following the apparent death of its leader last week and reports that al Qaeda was trying to gain greater power in the group.

The country's top law enforcement official said al Qaeda was taking advantage of a bloody succession battle to choose a leader favorable to its interests while a contender who had been reported killed in that infighting called reporters to say he's alive and well.

The contender, Hakimullah Mehsud, also claimed that Baitullah Mehsud, the Taliban leader U.S. and Pakistani officials say they are almost certain was killed last week in an American missile strike, is also alive.

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More News On The Taliban In Pakistan

Taleban leader 'killed' in power struggle telephones reporters -- Times Online
Taliban debunk claim of battle at shura meeting in South Waziristan -- Long war Journal
Confusion over Pakistan Taliban leader's death -- CBC
Militant commander resurfaces to rebut official claims of his death -- The Guardian
Taliban Deny Pakistani Report They Are Fighting Over Leadership -- Bloomberg
Taliban Challenges Pakistan To Prove War -- Wall Street Journal
Pakistan Believes al-Qaida Seeking New Taliban Leader -- Voice of America
Pakistan Taliban fight for control of dead leader's millions -- The Telegraph
Pakistan government to seek DNA proof in bid to confirm death of Taliban leader -- Daily Mail

My Comment: Confusion is an understatement.

How Pakistan's Top Taliban Leader Was Killed, And News On The Power Struggle That Is Now Underway

High-Profile Victories In The Battle Against Terror -- Times Online

IT WAS around 1am on Wednesday and Pakistan’s most wanted man had taken the risk of spending the night at the house of a close relative. A diabetic, Baitullah Mehsud, commander of Pakistan’s biggest Taliban group, had been feeling poorly in the scorching summer heat of Waziristan and the local doctor called round to give him a glucose drip.

As he lay on a couch on the roof tended by his new wife, somewhere high up in the clear starry sky a distant unmanned plane was hovering, invisible to the naked eye. Its cameras locked in on him, a command was given thousands of miles away in the Nevada desert, and two Hellfire missiles tore into the mud-walled building.

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My Comment: This is a very detailed report on the killing of Baitullah Meshud, head of Pakistan's Taliban. The Times sources must be Pakistani intelligence and/or U.S. Intelligence .... and is probably accurate.

More News On The Killing Of Baitullah Mehsud And The Power Struggle That Is Now Happening Within Pakistan's Taliban Groups

Pakistan Taliban commander denies shootout with rival -- Yahoo News/Reuters
Pakistani Taleban leader 'killed in shootout' -- Times Online
Power Struggle Ensues After Taliban Chief's Apparent Death -- Washington Post
Taliban power vacuum may benefit Pakistan – or Al Qaeda -- Christian Science Monitor
'Time to Strike': Taliban in Disarray After Shootout Allegedly Claims Two Successors -- ABC News
In Pakistan, would-be successors to slain Taliban chief clash -- L.A. Times
Pakistani Taliban appears in turmoil after shootout -- AFP
Pakistani Taliban chief, 40 militants killed in drone strike -- China View
Pakistan Probes Reports of Fighting Between Taliban Rivals -- Voice of America
Pakistan Taliban leader's fate shrouded in claim and counter-claim -- The Guardian
Analysis: Pakistani claims regarding Baitullah’s death, shura clash, are suspect -- Long War Journal
Taliban Leader's Death Disputed, Shootout Claimed -- Wall Street
U.S. says evidence Taliban chief dead "pretty conclusive" -- Yahoo News/Reuters
National security adviser: US believes Mehsud dead -- Yahoo News/AP

Feuding Kills a Top Militant, Pakistan Says

Photo: Images of Baitullah Mehsud were released after his alleged death. AFP photo.

From The New York Times:

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Pakistani officials said they had received information on Saturday that a ranking militant commander had been killed in a power struggle over who would succeed Baitullah Mehsud, the leader of the Pakistani Taliban.

A Pakistani government official and an intelligence official said that Hakimullah Mehsud, a young and aggressive aide to the former leader, had been shot dead in a fight with another commander who was seeking leadership, Waliur Rehman, during a meeting in a remote mountain region near the Afghan border.

Reports of Hakimullah Mehsud’s death could not be independently verified Saturday. If true, it would be the second serious loss for the Pakistani Taliban in just a week, after reports that Baitullah Mehsud had been killed in an American airstrike on Wednesday.

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Update #1: Conflicting reports of Taliban shootout -- AP

Update#2: The fog of the Predator war: Baitullah is alive, says Pakistani Taliban -- Long War Journal

My Comment: There has been a considerable number of news reports on what has happened since Baitullah Mehsud supposed killing by a U.S. missile strike. Unfortunately, much of this news is coming to us via through Pakistani sources .... sources that have proven in the past to be totally unreliable and inaccurate.

Militants Say Pakistan's Mehsud Alive, Deny Report

In this made from video taken on May 24, 2008, Pakistan's top Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud, right, talks to the media in Kotkai, a village in the Pakistani tribal area along the Afghan border. According to Kafayat Ullah, a Taliban commander and aide to Mehsud, Friday Aug. 7, 2009, Mehsud, who led a violent campaign of suicide attacks and assassinations against the Pakistani government, was killed in a U.S. missile strike on Wednesday Aug. 5, 2009. (AP Photo/APTN)

From Yahoo News/AP:

ISLAMABAD – A Taliban spokesman and a deputy to Baitullah Mehsud claimed Saturday that the Pakistani Taliban chief was not killed by a CIA missile strike, contradicting another aide who confirmed Mehsud's death a day earlier.

The claims, made in calls to Pakistani and international media organizations, could undermine the growing confidence among U.S. and Pakistani officials that Mehsud died. They also could be tactical maneuvers to prevent defections as the Taliban leadership searches for a successor to Mehsud or even to delay a decision on naming an heir.

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My Comment: For the past two hours I have been reading and collecting over 20 news links that discuss and analyze the missile strike that successfully killed him .... and the impact that his death will have on the Taliban movement in Pakistan .... and we now have this report that he is alive.

Someone .... somewhere .... has a sense of humor.

If he is alive, he will either make an announcement very soon (the next few days) .... or he will go into hiding and make an announcement in the near future (i.e. in a few weeks). The only thing that we can do now is wait and see.

After Mehsud: Who Will Be Pakistan's Next Terror Chief?

Armed Pakistani Taliban with rocket-propelled-grenade launchers patrol near the Swat valley region in Pakistan. RASHID IQBAL / EPA

From Time Magazine:

Terrorist groups often boast about their unity of purpose, the single-minded pursuit of their apocalyptic goals. But when it comes to leadership succession, history shows they are rarely united. The death of a charismatic leader often leads to fragmentation and infighting, followed by a loss of focus and effectiveness. Case in point: al-Qaeda's Iraqi arm never recovered from the killing of Abu Mousab al-Zarqawi.

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Update: Killing of Pakistan Taliban chief could touch off power struggle - Christian Science Monitor

Update #2: Baitullah Mehsud is dead but Taliban still strong in Pakistan's tribal belt -- The Guardian

My Comment: The killing of Baitullah Mehsud is a big thing. His demise will impact the Pakistani Taliban and it will also impact those who were dependent on his leadership and resources. Will the Taliban disappear .... no. But it's effectiveness will be degraded as the fighting continues.

Pakistani Taliban Chief Baitullah Mehsud Killed In U.S. Airstrike

Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud speaks to reporters in Pakistan's South Waziristan tribal region in this May 24, 2008 file photo. Reuters

Pakistan Says Taliban Chief Is Probably Dead -- Yahoo News/AP

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Pakistan believes Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud, who has a $5 million U.S. bounty on his head, was probably killed with his wife and bodyguards in a missile attack two days ago, the interior minister said on Friday.

An intelligence officer in South Waziristan told Reuters that Mehsud's funeral had already taken place, while Pakistani media cited their own security sources, saying Mehsud was dead.

"He was killed with his wife and he was buried in Nargosey," the officer said, referring to a tiny settlement about 1 km (half a mile), from the site of the attack, believed to have been carried out by a pilotless U.S. drone aircraft.

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More News On The Killing Of Taliban Chief Baitullah Mehsud

Aide says Pakistani Taliban leader Mehsud is dead -- Yahoo News/AP
Air Strike Said to Kill Pakistani Taliban Chief -- Wall Street Journal
Taliban Leader in Pakistan Was Killed, His Aides Say -- New York Times
Taleban commander Baitullah Mehsud killed in US missile strike -- Times Online
Death of Pakistan Taliban chief Baitullah Mahsud is confirmed -- L.A. Times
Baitullah Mehsud: Dead or alive? -- Dawn
FACTBOX - Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud presumed dead -- Reuters
Pakistan Taliban Chief May Have Been Killed -- Washington Post
Is Pakistan's Taliban Chief Dead? -- Time Magazine
Mehsud death could signal turning tide against Pakistan militants -- The Guardian
Baitullah: Dead or alive, his battle rages -- Asia Times
Analysis: a new opportunity in Pakistan -- Times Online

Was Pakistani Taliban Chief Baitullah Mehsud Killed In A Missle Strike This Week?

US And Pakistan Investigating Baitullah Mehsud's 'Death' -- The Telegraph

US and Pakistani authorities are investigating reports that Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud was killed in an American missile strike, officials from both countries said on Friday.

If confirmed, Mehsud's demise would be a major boost to Pakistani and US efforts to eradicate the Taliban and al-Qaeda.

Mehsud is believed responsible for dozens of suicide attacks, beheadings and target killings in Pakistan. He is allied with al-Qaeda and has been suspected in the killing of the former Pakistani prime minister, Benazir Bhutto.

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Update: 'Baitullah Mehsud is alive' - US intelligence official -- The Long War Journal

My Comment: It appears that they almost got here .... sighhhh .... close but no cigar.

Tribal Leader's Assassination Is A Blow To Pakistani Offensive

Photo: Qari Zainuddin had publicly supported the Pakistani military. Associated Press

From Wall Street Journal:

ISLAMABAD -- A pro-government tribal leader opposed to Baitullah Mehsud, the chief of the Pakistan Taliban, was killed Tuesday, dealing a blow to the Pakistani military's offensive against the militants in the lawless tribal region bordering Afghanistan.

Qari Zainuddin, a leader of a rival faction of the Mehsud tribe in South Waziristan, was killed in his house in Dera Ismail Khan when one of his guards opened fire on him, according to local police and his supporters. Police said the assassin escaped. Baz Mohammad, an aide to the tribal leader who was wounded in the shooting, told the Associated Press that a guard barged into a room at Mr. Zainuddin's compound after morning prayers.

"It was definitely Baitullah's man who infiltrated our ranks, and he has done his job," Mr. Mohammad told the AP.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

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Update: Tribesman who stood up to Pakistan's Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud -- The Guardian

My Comment: This Taliban leader was by no stretch of the imagination an ally of the West .... in fact he had wanted the war against the Pakistani Government to stop so that their resources can then be focused on the war in Afghanistan.

His demise means that the war in Pakistan will continue, and that attempts to rein in Baitullah Meshud by other Taliban elements and Al Qaeda will now be put on the back burner.

Senior Al Qaeda And Afghan Taliban Leaders Meet With Baitullah

Baitullah Mehsud, the Taliban leader in Pakistan, center with his back to the camera. Even Peshawar is threatened by the Taliban, the police say. Associated Press

From The Long War Journal:

Senior al Qaeda and Afghan Taliban leaders are reported to have met with Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud to advise him to move his group's operations into Afghanistan and halt attacks against the Pakistani state.

Several meetings were said to have been held last week after an 11-man delegation of al Qaeda and Taliban heavy hitters arrived in Waziristan to deliver a request from Mullah Omar, the Amir al Mumineen, or the leader of the faithful in Pakistan and Afghanistan, according to a report in The Nation.

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My Comment: If this story is true, this tells me that the Pakistani military offensive is becoming effective in eliminating Al Qaeda's (and the Taliban's) military infrastructure, and these men are now worried on what would be the long term consequences if this continues.

Will Baitulla Meshud listen to these Taliban/Al Qaeda leaders .... your guess is as good as mine.

Update: Pakistan targets al Qaeda hide-out -- Washington Times

Militant Most Wanted: Pakistan Warlord Claims US Massacre

City slaughter: Baitullah Mehsud, pictured far left talking to journalists last years. EPA

From The Independent:

FBI rejects the boast of Baitullah Mehsud after 13 die in New York at the hands of a newly unemployed Vietnamese immigrant. But the US already had a $5m bounty on the Taliban chief's head. Stephen Foley reports

One of Pakistan's most wanted warlords made the extraordinary claim that he was responsible for the massacre of 13 people in an upstate New York immigration centre, dragging America's plague of gun crime into the battle for power and publicity in the lawless border region with Afghanistan.

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My Comment: Baitullah Mehsud is playing to his Pakistani audience .... not the American one. His organization is now more lethal than Al Qaeda .... killing both Allied forces in Afghanistan and Pakistani soldiers in the Frontier Zones. His army numbers in the thousands, and his support for his Islamic brand of fundamentalism is widespread. It would not be surprise if in the next few months his bounty will rise from the present $5 million dollars to something more substantial.

As Taliban Leader Vows to Attack DC, Military Leaders Describe Instability In Pakistan

Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud talking to journalists in South-Waziristan bordering Afghanistan Photo: EPA /The Telegraph

HS Today:

'Destabilization of the nuclear-armed Pakistani state would present an enormous challenge to the United States'

Al Qaeda-linked Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud’s chillingly threat that “soon we will launch an attack in Washington that will amaze everyone in the world,” coincided with Admiral Eric T. Olson, Commander, United States Special Operations Command, telling the Senate Armed Services Committee Wednesday during a hearing on US policy toward Afghanistan and Pakistan that “current and potential threats posed by extremists and their allies and networks in Afghanistan and Pakistan … is increasingly dire.”

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Previous Post: Al Qaeda And Taliban Planning More 9/11-Style Attacks

Al Qaeda And Taliban Planning More 9/11-Style Attacks

Baitullah Mehsud, the Taliban leader in Pakistan, center with his back to the camera. Even Peshawar is threatened by the Taliban, the police say. Associated Press/New York Times

From Captain's Quarters:

This is very important testimony from someone in Pakistan who should know.

Al Qaeda and Taliban are planning to stage terrorist strikes similar to the 9/11 attacks in the US and Europe, NWFP police chief Malik Navid told the National Assembly Standing Committee on Interior on Monday.

The briefing, on the law and order situation in NWFP, informed the committee that the extremists were spreading throughout Pakistan, adding they planned to destabilise the Middle East to have a launch pad for terrorist attacks on the US or Europe. He said Arabs and people from other countries had entered Afghanistan in large numbers between 1979 and 1995, adding some had expertise in making biochemical weapons. He urged the government to focus on curbing militancy in the country, saying the activities of militants were rapidly increasing.

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My Comment: An excellent and frightening post from the Captain's Journal. The FBI and other officials from the U.S. Government have been discounting his threats .... but as I said in a post a few days ago, I think this is a mistake. Baitullah Mehsud and his organization are very very dangerous. His network and support structure is vastly larger than Al Qaeda's. They have a safe haven that has been earned by defeating the Pakistani Army and its intelligence apparatus .... meaning that they are not afraid to fight. If there is a terror organization in the world that can pull off a WMD attack on the west .... including on the U.S. .... it is this group.

This is a must read post.

Baitullah Mehsud -- World Public Enemy #1

In this picture taken on May 24, 2008, Pakistani Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud (C) speaks to media representatives at his stronghold in the tribal district of South Waziristan near the Afghan border. Top Pakistani Taliban warlord Mehsud on May 24 said jihad, or holy war, would continue in Afghanistan, despite peace negotiations between the militants and Islamabad. "Islam does not recognise boundaries and jihad in Afghanistan will continue," he said. (Photo from Getty Pictures by AFP/Getty Images)

From Captain's Journal:

We have provided analysis of Baitullah Mehsud, the center of gravity of the globalist jihad movement in the Taliban controlled areas of Pakistan, head of the Tehrik-i-Taliban (TTP) and more powerful by far than al Qaeda. The Guardian has an exposé on Baitullah that is so good and extensive that several quotes will be provided below (the entire article is recommended reading), followed by brief analysis.

… after five years of germination, the disparate forces behind most of these attacks formally merged into the Pakistan Taliban (TTP) under the leadership of an illiterate 35-year-old commander, Baitullah Mehsud, confirming western suspicions that the epicentre of global jihad had shifted. Soon militias allied to the new grouping had permeated all of Pakistan’s border regions, even the northern ski slopes and trout streams of the former tourist haven of Swat …

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Recommended Reading: On the trail of Pakistan's Taliban -- The Guardian

My Comment: An excellent analysis of the evolving leadership of the world's jihadist movement. Both the Captain's Journal and The Guardian articles are recommended reading.