Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud is alive, says rebel commanderAugust 24th, 2009 WANA - A commander of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Monday said his organisation will select a new chief in the next five days according to the instruction of their leader Baitullah Mehsud, a media report said. Waliur Rehman, commander of the group in South Waziristan, said: We have thousands of suicide attackers, who can destroy their (government) targets anywhere.
New Taliban chief is 'look alike brother' of Hakimullah MehsudAugust 23rd, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistani intelligence agencies believe the new Taliban chief named by the militant group Saturday is a look alike brother of Hakimullah Mehsud and not the real one, the Online news agency reported. Taliban in order to save their image are giving the impression that Hakimullah Mehsud is alive, while the truth is the man, also called by the same name, who has been selected as the new chief of Teherik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is his look alike brother, the report said citing intelligence sources.
India has destructive designs to destabilize Pakistan, says former ISI chiefAugust 15th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Former Inter Services Intelligence chief Lieutenant General Hamid Gul has blamed India for creating trouble and fanning unrest inside Pakistan, saying New Delhi has destructive designs to destabilize Pakistan. In an interview with the Foreign Policy Journal, Lieutenant General Gul blamed the United States for supporting India's subversive acts.
US rejects Taliban claims of Mehsud being aliveAugust 11th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The United States has rejected theTaliban's claim of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Baitullah Mehsud being alive. US National Security Adviser General James Jones said there is sufficient evidence and proof that Mehsud has been killed.
ANP leader slams Pak Army's 'hogwash' offensive against MehsudJuly 26th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A senior leader of the Awami National Party (ANP) has described the Pakistan Army's offensive against the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Baitullah Mehsud South Waziristan as "hogwash."
Lateef Afridi said the government is merely carrying out a mock offensive in the region to pacify the United States and "earn dollars."
"These are mere mock operations in order to convince the NATO as well as the United States of America that Pakistan is very serious against the extremists," claimed Afridi. Pakistani leaders were infact protecting the militants, the Weekly Standard magazine quoted him, as saying.
Taliban would not be allowed to sneak into Pak from Afghanistan: HolbrookeJuly 24th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The United States would not allow the Taliban to sneak into Pakistan from Afghanistan and is working out a strategy for it, US Special Envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke said before leaving Pakistan for Afghanistan after a two-day visit. Holbrooke said the US would not repeat its mistakes that it did in 2001 when hundreds of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda fighters slipped into Pakistan's border region following the US led surge after 9/11.
Pak Army faces massive militant force in Waziristan if Mehsud aligns with tribes: ReportJuly 1st, 2009 WASHINGTON - The Pakistan Army is planning an offensive against the Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) chief Baitullah Mehsud in his stronghold South Waziristan, but it seems that it is unaware of the massive threat that the region has in store. The military will have to face a formidable army of extremists if Mehsud join hands with the militant commanders of North Waziristan, The Christian Science Monitor reported an analysis in the Long War Journal, as saying.
Mission against Mehsud will continue, vows assassinated rival leader's successorJune 25th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Cracks within the Taliban are getting wider, with the younger brother of Qari Zainuddin, Misbahuddin Mehsud, vowing to continue the fight against the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Baitullah Mehsud until the Taliban warlord is killed. Misbahuddin Mehsud, who was appointed the new chief of the Abdullah Group, a breakaway Taliban organization, said he would lend all support to the military operation in South Waziristan against the TTP chief to revenge Zainuddin's murder, who was apparently killed for his anti-Mehsud remarks.
NATO to assist Pak Army in its offensive against Mehsud in South Waziristan?June 20th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - With the Pakistan government announcing a Swat like military offensive in South Waziristan with a primary motive to hunt down the Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) chief Baitullah Mehsud, the NATO forces deployed in Afghanistan are also ready to extend help. The allied forces stationed in Afghanistan will likely extend help in Pakistan's military offensive, by sharing important intelligence inputs in order to prevent a probable spill-over of the militants, The Nation reports.
Mehsud rejects Mullah Omar's appeal of stopping terror activities in PakJune 20th, 2009 PESHAWAR - In yet another incident which proves that fissures in the Taliban are getting wider, the Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) chief Baitullah Mehsud has rejected the calls of the Taliban's supreme leader Mullah Muhammad Omar Akhund for halting terror strikes in Pakistan. According to sources, Akhund had asked Mehsud to stop the terror acts in Pakistan and focus more on activities against the US led allied forces in Afghanistan.
Mehsud masterminded Benazir's murder, says former aideJune 19th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - A militant leader who broke away with Pakistan's Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud has accused him of killing former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto, a media report said Friday. Haji Turkistan Baetani, former right-hand man of Mehsud, claimed that Mehsud had planned the assassination of Bhutto.
Pakistani Taliban chief implements foreign agenda, say dissentersJune 18th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Two militant leaders who broke away from Pakistan's top Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud have accused their former comrade of following a foreign agenda by waging an insurgency inside the Islamic state, media reports said Thursday. The open disagreement came two days after Pakistan's armed forces announced they were preparing a decisive offensive against Mehsud and his network, which is centred around the South Waziristan tribal region on the Afghan border.
TTP chief Mehsud unveils new terror game plan to beat Pak Army's dragnetMay 31st, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Baitullah Mehsud has ordered his operatives to strike small hamlets in the Swat and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and to look out for new hideouts in other parts of the country. According to The Nation, Mehsud recently had telephonic discussions with unknown accomplices and told them to carry out bombings in small villages, which in turn would promote suicide attacks in other areas of the country.
Mullen says Taliban chief hiding in BalochistanApril 7th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The US Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, has claimed that the Taliban's top leadership is hiding in Pakistan's Balochistan province. During a dinner at US Ambassador Anne Patterson's residence in Islamabad, Admiral Mullen told reporters that the US was targeting Baitullah Mehsud now because he had established strategic links with Al Qaeda.
Baitullah Mehsud now being seen as a threat to the USApril 3rd, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pak-Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud is being seen as a growing threat to President Barack Obama's anti-terror strategies in Pakistan and beyond, experts say. A day after Mehsud threatened to attack the White House, a US drone fired two missiles at the alleged hideout of one of his commanders, killing 14 people.
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