Hafiz Saeed Khan (1972 – 26 July 2016
), also known as
Mullah
Mullah (; ) is an honorific title for Shia and Sunni Muslim clergy or a Muslim mosque leader. The term is also sometimes used for a person who has higher education in Islamic theology and sharia law.
The title has also been used in some Miz ...
Saeed
Orakzai
The Orakzai are a Pashtun tribe native to the Orakzai Agency and parts of Kurram Agency located in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. They speak the language Pashto.
Location
The Orakzai belong to the Tirah valley located in FATA or ...
, was an
Islamic militant
''Mujahideen'', or ''Mujahidin'' ( ar, مُجَاهِدِين, mujāhidīn), is the plural form of ''mujahid'' ( ar, مجاهد, mujāhid, strugglers or strivers or justice, right conduct, Godly rule, etc. doers of jihād), an Arabic term t ...
who served as the
Islamic State
An Islamic state is a State (polity), state that has a form of government based on sharia, Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical Polity, polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a t ...
emir
Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cerem ...
for its
Khorasan province, which is active in
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
and
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
, from January 2015 until his death in July 2016. Prior to 2015, Khan was a senior commander in the
Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan
The Pakistani Taliban (), formally called the Tehreek-e-Taliban-e-Pakistan (Urdu/ ps, , lit=Student Movement of Pakistan, TTP), is an umbrella organization of various Islamist armed militant groups operating along the Afghan–Pakistani bo ...
and initially a member of the
Afghan Taliban.
Early life and family
Saeed was born in 1972 in the town of Mamozai in the
Orakzai Agency
Orakzai District ( ps, اورکزو ولسوالۍ, ur, ) is a district in Kohat Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. Until 2018, it was an agency of Federally Administered Tribal Areas. With the merger of FATA with Khyber Pakh ...
, in the
Federally Administered Tribal Areas
, conventional_long_name = Federally Administered Tribal Areas
, nation = Pakistan
, subdivision = Autonomous territory
, image_flag = Flag of FATA.svg
, image_coat = File:Coat of arms ...
of
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
near the Afghan border, and got his early education from a local cleric,
Maulana Shabit, before moving to the
Hangu District of
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, ...
, where he was admitted to the local school known as
Darululoom Islamia Hangue, one of his classmates, Maulana Shahidullah, remembering him as a good student, having
memorized the entire Qur’an in just one year, and for also being particularly peaceful, while in terms of private life, he first married his cousin, having two sons and a daughter, before taking another wife from the
North Waziristan District
North Waziristan District ( ps, شمالي وزیرستان ولسوالۍ, ur, ) is a district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. It is the northern part of Waziristan, a mountainous region of northwest Pakistan, bordering Afghanist ...
.
As opposed to most Talibans, who are
Deobandis
Deobandi is a Islamic revival, revivalist movement within Sunni Islam, adhering to the Hanafi school of law,
formed in the late 19th century around the Darul Uloom Deoband, Darul Uloom Madrassa in Deoband, India, from which the name derives, ...
, Saeed was a Panjpiri,
Panjpir
Panjpir (Urduپنج پیر) is a town and Union council of Swabi District in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan that is surrounded by Shahmansoor, Kaddi, Thand Kohi, Bam Khel, Dara and Ismailabad.Panj peer means five Sufi Sanits.
Distric ...
being a town in the
Swabi District
Swabi District ( ps, سوابۍ ولسوالۍ, ur, ) is a district in the Mardan Division of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. It lies between the Indus and Kabul Rivers. Before becoming a district in 1988, it was a tehsil within t ...
of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa known for its seminaries with
Salafi
The Salafi movement or Salafism () is a reform branch movement within Sunni Islam that originated during the nineteenth century. The name refers to advocacy of a return to the traditions of the "pious predecessors" (), the first three generat ...
tendencies, producing many
militants
The English word ''militant'' is both an adjective and a noun, and it is generally used to mean vigorously active, combative and/or aggressive, especially in support of a cause, as in "militant reformers". It comes from the 15th century Latin ...
who thus later felt a natural affinity for the ideology of the Islamic State.
Islamic militancy
Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan
After the
September 11 attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...
, Saeed went to
Kabul
Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...
to fight against the
United States invasion of Afghanistan
In late 2001, the United States and its close allies invaded Afghanistan and toppled the Taliban government. The invasion's aims were to dismantle al-Qaeda, which had executed the September 11 attacks, and to deny it a safe base of operatio ...
with the
Afghan Taliban. He remained in Kabul for two years.
He became close to
Baitullah Mahsud, who formed the
Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan
The Pakistani Taliban (), formally called the Tehreek-e-Taliban-e-Pakistan (Urdu/ ps, , lit=Student Movement of Pakistan, TTP), is an umbrella organization of various Islamist armed militant groups operating along the Afghan–Pakistani bo ...
in 2007 and became its leader. He appointed Saeed to the majlis ash-shura and made him emir for Orakzai Agency.
On August 2009, Baitullah Mahsud was killed in an
American drone strike. A dispute arose as to the leadership of the TTP, with some commanders wanting
Hakimullah Mahsud to assume the leadership, while Saeed wanted his ally Wali Ur Rahman to become the leader. According to Abdul Saboor Khan, a renowned analyst of tribal affairs, "The TTP split in two groups after Baitullah's killing and Saeed was not happy over the differences," In 2013 Hakimullah was himself killed in an American drone strike. "Saeed was one of the three main contenders for the top slot of the TTP chief, and I think he was disheartened when
Fazlullah Fazlallah, also spelled Fadlallah, Fazlollah, Fazlullah etc. ( ar, فضل الله )) is a male Muslim given name, composed of the elements ''Fadl'' and ''Allah'', meaning ''bounty of God''. In modern usage it may serve as a surname. It may refer t ...
was nominated", Khan said.
Islamic State
Saeed, who as a TTP commander was known for his
Salafi
The Salafi movement or Salafism () is a reform branch movement within Sunni Islam that originated during the nineteenth century. The name refers to advocacy of a return to the traditions of the "pious predecessors" (), the first three generat ...
tendencies to the point he attacked
Hanafi
The Hanafi school ( ar, حَنَفِية, translit=Ḥanafiyah; also called Hanafite in English), Hanafism, or the Hanafi fiqh, is the oldest and one of the four traditional major Sunni schools ( maddhab) of Islamic Law (Fiqh). It is named aft ...
seminaries, had already personally joined IS on 11 May 2013.
Few months after Pakistani offensive in North Waziristan against TTP, Saeed formally left the TTP on 15 October 2014, along with seven other Taliban leaders, creating a new group called Tehrik-e Khilafat Pakistan (TKP), and pledged allegiance to Islamic State leader
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi ( ar, أبو بكر البغدادي, ʾAbū Bakr al-Baḡdādī; born Ibrahim Awad Ibrahim Ali Muhammad al-Badri al-Samarrai ( ar, إبراهيم عواد إبراهيم علي محمد البدري السامرائي, ʾIb ...
. The other men who left alongside him were the TTP's former spokesman, Shahidullah Shahid; its
Khyber Agency
Khyber District ( ps, خېبر ولسوالۍ, ur, ) is a district in Peshawar Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. Until 2018, it was an agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas; with the merger of FATA with Khyber Pak ...
chief, Gul Zaman Fateh;
Peshawar
Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...
chief Mufti Hassan Swati;
Kurram Agency
Kurram District ( ps, کرم ولسوالۍ, ur, ) is a district in Kohat Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan.The name Kurram comes from the river Kuramá ( ps, کورمه) in Pashto which itself derives from the Sanskrit name Kr ...
chief Hafiz Dawlat Khan;commander in Waziristan, Abdul Bahar Mehsud;Bajaur commander Abu Bakr and Hangu chief Khalid Mansoor.
Saeed's position as head of IS Khorasan was confirmed in a video message released by the group on 11 January. The video features a message by Shahidullah Shahid.
The 13th issue of
Dabiq, titled ''The Rafidah from Ibn Saba' to the Dajjal'' and published 19 January 2016, features an interview with Saeed.
US sanctions
On 29 September 2015, the
United States Department of the Treasury
The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an executive department. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and t ...
sanctioned Saeed alongside 15 other Islamic State leaders. According to the Department of the Treasury, "Khan, as leader of ISIL-K, plays a central role in expanding ISIL’s operations in the region, commanding militants and coordinating the delivery of supplies and munitions, the travel of associates, and other arrangements. In mid-2015, Khan appointed ISIL representatives in Kunar Province and Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan and approved funding for the establishment of a training camp for ISIL fighters in western Afghanistan. ISIL militants under Khan’s command had taken control of several districts in Nangarhar Province in mid-2015".
Death
On 12 July 2015, the Afghan intelligence agency, the
National Directorate of Security
prs, ریاست عمومی امنیت ملی
, nativename_r =
, seal = National Directorate of Security Logo.png
, seal_width =
, seal_caption = Seal of the National Directorate of Security
, formed =
, precedin ...
, claimed that Saeed was killed in a strike carried out by US-led coalition forces in coordination with intelligence provided by the spy agency, though the United States never confirmed such an operation. The Islamic State rejected the claim, but the strike did kill
Shahidullah Shahid and Gul Zaman, according to senior IS leader
Abdul Rahim Muslim Dost.
On 12 August 2016, the United States announced that Hafiz Saeed Khan was killed in a U.S. airstrike in
Achin district
Achin ( ps, اچين ولسوالۍ) is a district in southern Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan, on the border with Pakistan.
Its population is 100% Pashtun. Achin is home to the Shinwari tribe, one of the largest Pashtun tribes.
It was a stro ...
of Afghanistan's
Nangarhar Province. There was no immediate response from the group itself, and it was initially unknown who would succeed him.
He was succeeded by Abdul Hasib, who was in turn killed by Afghan and US Special Forces in Nangarhar on 27 April 2017.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Hafiz Saeed
1972 births
2016 deaths
Assassinated ISIL members
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant members
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in Afghanistan
Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan
Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan members
Taliban members
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and Pakistan
Leaders of Islamic terror groups
People from Orakzai District
Pakistani Islamists
Salafi jihadists