ISLAMABAD - While Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is fragmented into different internal factions and the head of the outfit is looking for commanders to keep the group intact, the Shehryar Mehsud group of militants has pledged renewed loyalty to Maulana Fazlullah and vowed not to leave the central command of TTP in the lurch.
On Monday, September 15, a section of the media reported that after “denouncing terrorist attacks against the government” - just like Maulana Asmatullah-led Punjabi Taliban - the Shehryar Mehsud group of Taliban had also dissociated from Maulana Fazlullah-led TTP. However, the Shehryar Mehsud group turned down the report as “fabricated” and “baseless”.
“Shehryar Mehsud had signed an agreement of loyalty with Hakimullah Mehsud at the time of joining the TTP and the same accord was renewed when Maulana Fazlullah was taking over charge as head of the group. The group is obeying Maulana Fazlullah in action as it was following Hakimullah Mehsud”, said a member of Shehryar Mehsud group.
After the killing of Hakimullah Mehsud in a US drone strike on November 1, 2013, Maulana Fazlullah was appointed as the head of TTP. However, the new leader was unable to keep the group united and cracks appeared in the ranks of the Taliban.
The first real crisis in the outfit was witnessed in South Waziristan when Commander Khan Said Sajna and Commander Shehryar Mehsud had started fighting to take control of the strategically important tribal agency. The clashes resulted in the killing of scores of militants from both sides. Maulana Fazlullah backed Shehryar Mehsud, which made Commander Sajna to part ways with TTP in the last week of May.
Shehryar Mehsud, 35, who represents the Shabikhail sub-clan of the Mehsud tribe, is a powerful militant commander. He surfaced in the media when he was made a caretaker TTP head just for a single day after the death of Hakimullah Mehsud. The strongly-built and aggressive Shehryar Mehsud remained close to slain Taliban commander Hakimullah Mehsud. He believes both in internal and external ‘jihad’. “He is also much closer to Maulana Fazlullah and both the commanders share the same thinking when it comes to fighting the Pakistani security forces,” said sources.
Last month in August, Jamaat ul Ahrar (JuA), which includes leading commanders of TTP, emerged on the scene. Initially the group claimed to work within the TTP. But the decision of the formation of a new group forced Maulana Fazlullah to expel Omar Khalid Khurassani, the head of Taliban in Mohmand Agency.
Another setback to TTP was the decision of Maulana Asmatullah Muawiya who last Saturday, in a video sent to the media, had denounced militancy and vowed that Punjabi Taliban will start preaching like Tabligh and social work.