Hakimullah Mehsud (
Pashto
Pashto (,; , ) is an Eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family. It is known in historical Persian literature as Afghani ().
Spoken as a native language mostly by ethnic Pashtuns, it is one of the two official languages ...
/ ur, حکیم اللہ محسود; − 1 November 2013), born Jamshed Mehsud () and also known as Zulfiqar Mehsud (), was a Pakistani militant who was the second
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 ...
of
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 ...
. He was deputy to commander
Baitullah Mehsud
Baitullah Mehsud (Pashto/ ur, ; – 5 August 2009) was one of founder and a leading member of TTP in Waziristan, Pakistan, and the leader of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). He formed the TTP from an alliance of about five militant groups ...
and one of the leaders of the militant group
Fedayeen al-Islam
Fedayeen al-Islam (also spelled ''Fedayan-i-Islam'', variously translated as "Islamic Commandos" or "Islamic Patriots") is a militant group in Pakistan under the leadership of Hakimullah Mehsud, who was a deputy to Baitullah Mehsud in the Tehrik-i ...
prior to the elder Mehsud's death in a
CIA drone missile strike.
He had been the TTP's commander in the
Khyber,
Kurram and
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 wha ...
agencies 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 ...
.
[ He was described as being born about 1979 and a cousin of ]Qari Hussain
Qari Hussain Ahmad Mehsud (Pashto/Urdu: قارى حسین احمد) (6 December 1988 – 7 October 2010) was a top lieutenant in the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the organizer of the group's suicide bombing squads. He was a cousin of Hak ...
.[ He was known to be a young and aggressive field commander, who previously served as a driver and was very close to Baitullah Mehsud.] Hakimullah Mehsud maintained ties to al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...
, the Afghan Taliban
The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state (polity), state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalist, m ...
and various jihadist groups, such as Lashkar-e-Taiba
Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT; ur, ; literally ''Army of the Good'', translated as ''Army of the Righteous'', or ''Army of the Pure'' and alternatively spelled as ''Lashkar-e-Tayyiba'', ''Lashkar-e-Toiba'', ''Lashkar-i-Taiba'', ''Lashkar-i-Tayyeba'') ...
, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi
The Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ; ur, ) or "Army of Jhangvi", is a Deobandi Sunni supremacist, terrorist and jihadist militant organisation based in Afghanistan. The organisation operates in Pakistan and Afghanistan and is an offshoot of anti-Shia ...
, and Jaish-e-Mohammed
Jaish-e-Mohammed ( ur, , literally "The Army of Muhammad", abbreviated as JeM) is a Pakistan-based: "The JEM is a Pakistan-based, militant Islamic group founded by Maulana Masood Azhar in March 2000."
Deobandi: "Deobandis like Masood Azha ...
.[
Reports initially indicated he was fatally wounded on 14 January 2010 by a U.S. ]drone attack
Drone warfare is a form of aerial warfare using unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAV) or weaponized commercial unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). The United States, United Kingdom, Israel, China, South Korea, Iran, Italy, France, India, Pakis ...
although two videos released by the TTP in 2010 and 2011 proved that he survived the attack. Mehsud was reported by Pakistani intelligence to have been killed by a U.S. drone strike
Drone warfare is a form of aerial warfare using unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAV) or weaponized commercial unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). The United States, United Kingdom, Israel, China, South Korea, Iran, Italy, France, India, Pakista ...
on 12 January 2012. However, the Pakistani Taliban denied the claim. It was later confirmed by the group that he was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Pakistan on 1 November 2013.
Early years and family
Hakimullah was born as Jamshed Mehsud in the region of Kotkai in South Waziristan
South Waziristan District ( ps, سويلي وزیرستان ولسوالۍ, ur, ) was a district in Dera Ismail Khan Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa before splitting in to Lower South Waziristan District and Upper South Waziristan District and t ...
.[ According to the ]FBI
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...
's Most Wanted Terrorists list, Mehsud was born within the years ranging from 1978 to 1981. One birth date listed is the 1st of January, 1980.
Mehsud was educated in a village madrassa
Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , pl. , ) is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary instruction or higher learning. The word is variously transliterated '' ...
, the Dar-ul-Uloom Shariah headed by Mufti
A Mufti (; ar, مفتي) is an Islamic jurist qualified to issue a nonbinding opinion ('' fatwa'') on a point of Islamic law (''sharia''). The act of issuing fatwas is called ''iftāʾ''. Muftis and their ''fatwas'' played an important rol ...
Sarwar, in the Serwekai
Serwekai ( ps, سروکۍ) is a town, tehsil, and subdivision of South Waziristan in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Serwekai is one of the three subdivisions of South Waziristan, along with Ladha and Wanna. The subdivision of ...
town of South Waziristan. Baitullah Mehsud
Baitullah Mehsud (Pashto/ ur, ; – 5 August 2009) was one of founder and a leading member of TTP in Waziristan, Pakistan, and the leader of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). He formed the TTP from an alliance of about five militant groups ...
also attended the same school but eventually dropped out. He also attended a secular school until Class 8.
According to a short seven-page autobiography
An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life.
It is a form of biography.
Definition
The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...
he wrote, he was the eldest of nine siblings, having four brothers and four sisters, and was married twice, first to a fellow Mehsud and later to an Afridi
The Afrīdī ( ps, اپريدی ''Aprīdai'', plur. ''Aprīdī''; ur, آفریدی) are a Pashtun tribe present in Pakistan, with substantial numbers in Afghanistan. The Afridis are most dominant in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal ...
from the Orakzai District
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 Pakht ...
, and in terms of religious activities he says he spent many months in a preaching mission with the Tablighi Jamaat
Tablighi Jamaat (, also translated as "propagation party" or "preaching party")
is a transnational Deobandi Islamic missionary movement
that focuses on exhorting Muslims to be more religiously observant
and encouraging fellow members t ...
.
Militant activity
Activities
Jamshed Mehsud joined his clansman Baitullah in jihad
Jihad (; ar, جهاد, jihād ) is an Arabic word which literally means "striving" or "struggling", especially with a praiseworthy aim. In an Islamic context, it can refer to almost any effort to make personal and social life conform with Go ...
, initially as his bodyguard and aide.[ He adopted the nom de guerre Zulfiqar, then later took the name Hakimullah, meaning one who has knowledge.][ He gained a reputation within the Taliban for his battle skills with the ]AK-47
The AK-47, officially known as the ''Avtomat Kalashnikova'' (; also known as the Kalashnikov or just AK), is a gas operated, gas-operated assault rifle that is chambered for the 7.62×39mm cartridge. Developed in the Soviet Union by Russian s ...
and the Toyota
is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...
pick-up truck
A pickup truck or pickup is a light-duty truck that has an enclosed cabin, and a back end made up of a cargo bed that is enclosed by three low walls with no roof (this cargo bed back end sometimes consists of a tailgate and removable covering) ...
. One Taliban member told a BBC correspondent that at the time Hakimullah's reputed skills were second only to Nek Mohammad.[
In 2004, he was made a spokesman.][ He organised a series of raids against US military convoys between the summer of 2007 and the spring of 2008 that forced the closure of the ]Khyber Pass
The Khyber Pass (خیبر درہ) is a mountain pass in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, on the border with the Nangarhar Province of Afghanistan. It connects the town of Landi Kotal to the Valley of Peshawar at Jamrud by traversing pa ...
six times. In 2008, he was given command of the 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 wha ...
, Khyber and Kurram district
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 ...
s.
Tehrik-e-Taliban leadership
On 22 August 2009, Hakimullah Mehsud was appointed unanimously as the new leader of the Tehrik-e-Taliban by a 42-member shura
Shura ( ar, شُورَىٰ, translit=shūrā, lit=consultation) can for example take the form of a council or a referendum. The Quran encourages Muslims to decide their affairs in consultation with each other.
Shura is mentioned as a praisewort ...
. Analysts cited by ''The Daily Times ''Daily Times'' may refer to the following national newspapers:
* ''Daily Times'' (Nigeria), newspaper published in Nigeria
* ''Daily Times'' (Pakistan), newspaper published in Pakistan
''The Daily Times'' may refer to the following newspapers:
* ...
'' interpreted the appointment of the 28-year-old commander as a way to admit the death of Baitullah Mehsud although spokesmen for the group continued to vehemently deny his death, instead saying he was ill.[
]
Baitullah's successor
Pakistani news channels reported on 8 August 2009 that Hakimullah Mehsud was killed after shooting erupted between his camp and that of Wali-ur-Rehman
Wali-ur-Rehman (Wali Ur-Rehman Mehsud) (1970 – 29 May 2013) was a senior Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) commander based in South Waziristan.
Wali-ur-Rehman was formerly a spokesman for Baitullah Mehsud, the late leader of the TTP.
Backgr ...
during a shura
Shura ( ar, شُورَىٰ, translit=shūrā, lit=consultation) can for example take the form of a council or a referendum. The Quran encourages Muslims to decide their affairs in consultation with each other.
Shura is mentioned as a praisewort ...
to determine the successor to the slain Baitullah Mehsud. Interior Minister Rehman Malik
Abdul Rehman Malik NI ( Punjabi, Urdu: رحمان ملک; born 12 December 1951 – 23 February 2022) was a Pakistani politician and a Federal Investigation Agency officer, having served as the Interior Minister from being appointed on 25 Marc ...
could not confirm the death only that the fighting had occurred. On 10 August, a man claiming to be Hakimullah Mehsud called a Reuters reporter to declare that he and Baitullah were still alive. While the reporter was certain that the call was authentic, Pakistani officials awaited voice analysis results and stated that intercepted phone calls led to the intelligence of Hakimullah's death.
Wali-ur-Rehman telephoned a Reuters reporter to say that Hakimullah is alive, and would be calling soon, and that the first shura where the shooting supposedly occurred never took place.
Hakimullah Mehsud appeared alongside suicide bomber
A suicide attack is any violent Strike (attack), attack, usually entailing the attacker detonating an explosive, where the attacker has suicide, accepted their own death as a direct result of the attacking method used. Suicide attacks have oc ...
Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi
Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi (25 December 1977 – 30 December 2009) was a Jordanian doctor and a triple agent suicide bomber loyal to Islamist extremists who carried out the Camp Chapman attack, a suicide attack against a CIA base near Kho ...
in an early January 2010 video that claimed responsibility for the Camp Chapman attack
Forward Operating Base Chapman was a United States Armed Forces Forward Operating Base located in Khost province, Afghanistan. As a prominent U.S. base, it was a repeated target of terror attacks. There have been at least seven attacks; t ...
in retaliation for the death of Baitullah Mehsud.
In February 2011, Hakimullah was seen in the execution video of Sultan Emir Tarar, better known as Col Imam. Imam was kidnapped in March 2010.
Rewards for capture
Pakistan bounty
On 2 November 2009 Pakistani authorities offered a Rs50 million ( $600,000) reward for information that lead to the capture or killing of Hakimullah Mehsud. They offered the same reward for similar information regarding Wali-ur-Rehman and Qari Hussain and smaller rewards for 16 other TTP militants.
United States bounty
On 1 September 2010 the United States added the militant leader to its list of Specially Designated Global Terrorist
A Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) is a person or entity that has been designated as such by the United States Department of State or the US Department of the Treasury. An SDGT designation is made under authority of US Executive Order 1 ...
s and the TTP to its list of Foreign Terrorist Organization
Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) is a designation for non-United States-based organizations deemed by the United States Secretary of State, in accordance with section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 (INA), to be involved ...
s. The FBI
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...
posted a reward of $5 million for information leading to his capture.
Death
On 1 November 2013, a senior Taliban source confirmed that a US drone
Drone most commonly refers to:
* Drone (bee), a male bee, from an unfertilized egg
* Unmanned aerial vehicle
* Unmanned surface vehicle, watercraft
* Unmanned underwater vehicle or underwater drone
Drone, drones or The Drones may also refer to:
...
strike in Pakistan killed Mehsud in the village of Dande Darpa Khel in North Waziristan
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 ...
. Dande Darpa Khel was the site of the Dande Darpa Khel airstrike in 2008. The drone strike also killed two other militants, along with his uncle and cousin.
At the time of his death he was living in a farmhouse
FarmHouse (FH) is a social Fraternities and sororities in North America, fraternity founded at the University of Missouri on April 15, 1905. It became a national organization in 1921. Today FarmHouse has 33 active chapters and four associate ch ...
worth $120 000, equipped with marble floors, green lawns and a tall minaret, where he used to grow apples, oranges, grapes and pomegranates.
References
External links
Waziristan and Mughal empire
Nehru in Waziristan
Sketch map of Waziristan
Mehsuds and Wazirs, the King-makers in a game of thrones
Lawrence of Arabia in Waziristan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mehsud, Hakimullah
1970s births
1980s births
2013 deaths
21st-century criminals
Deaths by drone strikes of the Central Intelligence Agency in Pakistan
Individuals designated as terrorists by the United States government
Pashtun people
People from Orakzai District
People from South Waziristan
Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan members
Pakistani Islamists
Tablighi Jamaat people
Leaders of Islamic terror groups