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 ...
Noor Wali 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, نور ولی محسود), also known as Abu Mansoor Asim (), is a Pakistani Islamic scholar, cleric and jurist who is the 4th emir of the
Pakistani Taliban
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 bor ...
(Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP).
On 22 June 2018, Mehsud was appointed as the
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 TTP after the assassination of former emir
Mullah Fazlullah in a US drone strike in
Kunar,
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 ...
.
Mehsud took power over the TTP at its weakest point since its inception, as the TTP no longer held territory in
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 ...
and had been plagued by internal divisions.
Despite this, the TTP, since Mehsud's appointment appears to have been revitalized and has "grown deadlier."
Mehsud has essentially steered the TTP in a new direction, sparing civilians and ordering assaults only on security and law enforcement personnel, in an attempt to rehabilitate the group's image and distance them from the
Islamic State – Khorasan Province
The Islamic State – Khorasan Province (; ISKP) is an affiliate of the Islamic State militant group active in South Asia and Central Asia. Some media sources also use the terms ISK (or IS–K), ISISK (or ISIS–K), IS–KP, Daesh–Khorasan or D ...
(Daesh–Khorasan) militant group's extremism.
The US classified Mehsud as a
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 ...
on 10 September 2019.
In July 2020, Mehsud was included on the
ISIL and Al-Qaeda Sanctions Committee
The ISIL (Da'esh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee is a committee of the United Nations Security Council tasked with implementing international sanctions against the Islamic State and al-Qaeda. It was established as the Al-Qaida and Taliban Sancti ...
list by the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
.
Early life
Birth
Noor Wali Mehsud was born on 26 June 1978 in a village in the
Tiarza Subdivision of the
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 ...
region 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, ...
.
He hails from the Mechikhel sub-clan of the
Mehsud
The Mahsud or Mehsood ( ps, محسود), also spelled Maseed ( ps, ماسيد), is a Karlani Pashtun tribe inhabiting mostly the South Waziristan Agency in the former Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan, now merged within Khy ...
tribe, a
Pashtun
Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically re ...
tribe native to the
Sararogha Subdivision
Sararogha Tehsil is a subdivision located in South Waziristan District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The population is 98,389 according to the 2017 census.
See also
* List of tehsils of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
In Pakistan, a tehsil is an adminis ...
of the
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 ...
region.
Religious Education and Afghan Civil War
Noor Wali Mehsud received a rudimentary education at Madrisa Siddiqia Ospas.
Throughout the 1990s, Mehsud studied on and off at
madrasa
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 '' ...
s Jamia Imdadia, Jamia Haleemia and Jamia Farooq-e-Azam in
Faisalabad
Faisalabad (; Punjabi/ ur, , ; ), formerly known as Lyallpur ( Punjabi, Urdu: لائل پور), named after the founder of the city, but was renamed in 1977 in honour of late King Faisal of Saudi Arabia. It is the 3rd largest city of Pak ...
, Jamia Nusratul Uloom in
Gujranwala
Gujranwala ( ur, , label=none; ) is a city and capital of Gujranwala Division located in Pakistan. It is also known as "City of Wrestlers" and is quite famous for its food. It is the 5th most populous city proper after Karachi, Lahore, Faisala ...
, and Jamia Ahsan-ul-Uloom and Jamia Yaseenul Quran in
Karachi
Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...
.
Around 1996-1997, Mehsud's religious education was interrupted as he left for Afghanistan to fight alongside the Afghan Taliban and allied jihadist forces against
Ahmad Shah Massoud's
Northern Alliance
The Northern Alliance, officially known as the United Islamic National Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan ( prs, جبهه متحد اسلامی ملی برای نجات افغانستان ''Jabha-yi Muttahid-i Islāmi-yi Millī barāyi Nijāt ...
.
He fought in various battles during the latter phase of the
Afghan Civil War like the
Battles of Mazar-i-Sharif (1997–98)
A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and forc ...
and battles north of
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 ...
.
On the advice of his father, Haji Gul Shah Khan, Noor Wali Mehsud returned to Pakistan to finish his religious education, graduating in 1999.
Upon graduating, Mehsud started using the title
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 ...
denoting his Islamic religious scholarship. Over the next two years, Mehsud taught Islamic theology at Madrassa Imdad-ul-Uloom in the Gorgoray area in South Waziristan.
War on Terror
United States invasion of Afghanistan
Following the 2001
September 11th 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 commercial ...
and the subsequent
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 ...
, Mufti Noor Wali Mehsud returned to Afghanistan with a convoy of
Deobandi
Deobandi is a revivalist movement within Sunni Islam, adhering to the Hanafi school of law,
formed in the late 19th century around the Darul Uloom Madrassa in Deoband, India, from which the name derives,
by Muhammad Qasim Nanautavi, R ...
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F)
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Pakistan (Fazl) also Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F) or simply as Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Urdu: ; ; JUI-F) is a Deobandi Sunni political party in Pakistan. Established as the ''Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam'' in 1945, it is the result o ...
fighters lead by Maulana Mirajuddin Mehsud in hopes of propping up the Taliban regime.
Despite the efforts of foreign jihadists, the Taliban government was overthrown by US and Northern Alliance forces in December 2001, prompting Mufti Noor Wali Mehsud to retreat across the border into Pakistan, along with droves of Afghan Taliban,
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 ...
, and other jihadist fighters.
Over the next year, Mufti Noor Wali Mehsud, along with many other jihadists and jihadist sympathizers 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 ...
, sheltered fleeing Taliban and Al-Qaeda fighters, providing them a launching pad for their insurgent operations in neighboring Afghanistan.
Under pressure from the US, Pakistan began deploying troops throughout the
FATA
, conventional_long_name = Federally Administered Tribal Areas
, nation = Pakistan
, subdivision = Autonomous territory
, image_flag = Flag of FATA.svg
, image_coat = File:Coat of arms ...
and along the border with Afghanistan with the goal of apprehending jihadists seeking shelter in Pakistan.
This move was considered an unprecedented violation of the tribes's sovereignty and was condemned by many parties across Pakistan. Throughout 2002-2003, Pakistan began to intensify their military presence and began launching counter-terrorism operations within the FATA, only to be met by more condemnation and suspicion by various local tribes and political parties.
In addition, the local Pashtun tribes began to feel that they were being subjugated by the Pakistani military. Not only was their military presence a violation of their sovereignty, but according to Mufti Noor Wali Mehsud, Pakistan's demand for the release of the jihadists whom they sheltered would be a violation of the principle of
Melmastia
Melmastyā́, or hospitality, is the requirement Pashtunwali places on all its tribesmen towards others, whether they are strangers or members of one's own tribe. Melmastyā́ requires hospitality and profound respect to be shown all visitors, rega ...
(hospitality), a major component of
Pashtunwali
Pashtunwali or Pakhtunwali ( ps, پښتونولي) is the traditional lifestyle and is best described as a code of honor of the Pashtun people, by which they live. Scholars widely have interpreted it as being "the way of the Afghans" or "the code ...
(Pashtun tribal code).
It was in this environment, Mufti Noor Wali Mehsud saw the need for a "defensive jihad" in Pakistan to resist American imperialism.
Noor Wali joined the Mehsud branch of the Pakistani Taliban in 2003, shortly before the start of the
War in Northwest Pakistan
The insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, also known as the War in North-West Pakistan or Pakistan's war on terror, is an ongoing armed conflict involving Pakistan, and Islamist militant groups such as the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Jundall ...
.
War in Northwest Pakistan
Early insurgent activities
Fighting broke out on March 16, 2004 when the Pakistani army began an operation to clear out Al-Qaeda jihadists from the
Wanna area in South Waziristan, being met with fierce resistance.
In this battle, Mufti Noor Wali Mehsud lead local Taliban fighters in an ambush of the Pakistani army in Tayar Manza.
The
Battle of Wanna
The Battle of Wanna was a March 2004 military engagement between the Pakistan Army and members of Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda at Azam Warsak, near the South Waziristan town of Wanna. The army troops and intelligence paramilitary soldiers fac ...
ended in a Pakistani victory, but marked the beginning of the
War in Northwest Pakistan
The insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, also known as the War in North-West Pakistan or Pakistan's war on terror, is an ongoing armed conflict involving Pakistan, and Islamist militant groups such as the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Jundall ...
. A ceasefire was signed in April 2004, but was quickly broken, as fighting in the tribal areas continued throughout 2004. During a Pakistani military operation in September 2004, Mufti Noor Wali Mehsud was put in charge of the local organization and lead the local Talibans against the Pakistani army.
Due to Noor Wali's religious education, he was made a qazi (judge) in a Taliban court formed by Baitullah Mehsud.
According to locals, Mufti Noor Wali Mehsud famously sentenced Pakistani Taliban leader
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 ...
to three days in jail.
During this period it is also believed Noor Wali served as a deputy to
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 ...
.
Assassination of Benazir Bhutto
On December 27, 2007, former prime minister
Benazir Bhutto
Benazir Bhutto ( ur, بینظیر بُھٹو; sd, بينظير ڀُٽو; Urdu ; 21 June 1953 – 27 December 2007) was a Pakistani politician who served as the 11th and 13th prime minister of Pakistan from 1988 to 1990 and again from 1993 t ...
was assassinated in
Rawalpindi
Rawalpindi ( or ; Urdu, ) is a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad, and third largest in Punjab after Lahore and Faisalabad. Rawalpindi is next to Pakistan's ...
. After the overwhelming public backlash following the assassination, which included widespread rioting and property destruction, the TTP saw it necessary to save face by denying involvement in the assassination.
On December 29, Maulvi Omar, official spokesperson of Baitullah Mehsud released a statement denying involvement in Benazir Bhutto's assassination saying, "I strongly deny it. Tribal people have their own customs. We don't strike women."
At the same time, the Pakistani government released the transcript from an intercepted phone call between TTP members Maulvi Sahib "Mister cleric" and Baitullah Mehsud in which Maulvi Sahib claimed responsibility for the attack, saying "They were our men there" and that "There were Saeed, the second was Badarwala Bilal and Ikramullah was also there." Maulvi Sahib clarified that Ikramullah and Badarwala Bilal did it, before being congratulated by Baitullah Mehsud and agreeing to meet in
Makin at "Anwar Shah's house."
No one openly claimed responsibility for the assassination of Bhutto until 2017, when Mufti Noor Wali Mehsud, in his book, took credit for carrying out the assassination.
Mufti Noor Wali Mehsud explained that Benazir Bhutto "allegedly planned to collaborate with the US against the mujahideen if she returned to power," and that the Bhutto's return was "planned at the behest of the Americans as they had given her a plan against the Mujahideed-e-Islam. Baitullah had received information of the plan."
Due to the threat they believed she posed to the TTP, they decided to carry out the assassination, first in the
October 18 Karachi bombing which failed to kill Bhutto and again in the successful December 27 assassination.
Mufti Noor Wali Mehsud also provided details on the attack from the TTP's perspective, mentioning that following the failed assassination attempt in October 2007, "the government had not taken appropriate security measures that made it possible for the attackers to have easy access to Benazir Bhutto in Rawalpindi," partially implicating then president,
Pervez Musharraf
General Pervez Musharraf ( ur, , Parvez Muśharraf; born 11 August 1943) is a former Pakistani politician and four-star general of the Pakistan Army who became the tenth president of Pakistan after the successful military takeover of the ...
in Bhutto's assassination.
Noor Wali mentions the assassination's masterminds Moulvi Imran, Ahmas alias Nasrullah, Qari Ismail, and Mullah Ihsan and their role in the planning of the attack.
Noor Wali also names Ikramullah and Badarwala Bilal as the bombers tasked with carrying out the attack, including a description of the attack, saying, "Bomber Bilal first fired at Benazir Bhutto from his pistol and the bullet hit her neck. Then he detonated his explosive jacket and blew himself up among the participants of the procession."
According to Noor Wali, Ikramullah never detonated his suicide belt and fled the scene to his home town of
Makin before going to Afghanistan, where he resides now.
Rising through the ranks
Following the assassination of Baitullah Mehsud, Noor Wali operated out of the Gorgoray area in his native South Waziristan. In 2009, he ran a TTP training camp in Gorgoray, as evidenced by the flyers sent out by the Pakistani government that placed bounties on high-level TTP commanders, provided pictures, and described their role in the organization. As of November 2009, Mufti Noor Wali Mehsud had a bounty of 2 million rupees placed on his head.
Noor Wali also served as the head of the TTP's publication/media wing.
In 2012, the TTP began to strengthen its influence in some of Pakistan's major cities like Karachi away from its traditional strongholds along the Afghan border.
In June 2013, Mufti Noor Wali Mehsud was appointed head of the TTP's Karachi chapter to ensure the TTP's continued growth in Karachi. In this position, he oversaw the extortion and kidnapping of many of Karachi's residents, bank robberies, and assassinations for money to fund the TTP's operations.
Noor Wali lead the TTP's Karachi chapter remotely from
Miramshah
Mīrānshāh (Pashto and ur, ) or Mīrāmshāh () is a small town that is the administrative headquarters of North Waziristan District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Miranshah lies on the banks of the Tochi River in a wide valley surr ...
, a traditional TTP stronghold, rarely visiting Karachi in person.
Mehsud usually demanded Pashtun residents of Karachi resolve their business disputes through the TTP courts in
Miramshah
Mīrānshāh (Pashto and ur, ) or Mīrāmshāh () is a small town that is the administrative headquarters of North Waziristan District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Miranshah lies on the banks of the Tochi River in a wide valley surr ...
, where the TTP could carry out extortions.
Those who ignored Noor Wali's demands had their families and their businesses threatened and intimidated by Mehsud's men.
In one such instance, Muhammad Ibrahim, the owner of a transportation company in Karachi, was called to the TTP courts in Miramshah to resolve a business dispute with a relative. According to Ibrahim, during Mufti Noor Wali Mehsud's reign over Karachi, "Our community was getting regular calls from Wali’s office, threatening people that they will target them or their families if they failed to pay extortion money."
After attending TTP court hearings in Miramshah, Muhammad Ibrahim was ordered to pay his relative $1,600, from which the TTP would take a cut.
According to Mehsud, Pakistan's renewed crackdown on Karachi militant groups in September 2013, resulted in the "extrajudicial killing" of most of the TTP's top commanders in Karachi, severely limiting the TTP's capabilities in the city.
Noor Wali remained the head of the TTP's Karachi franchise until May 2015.
He went on to become the deputy of
Khalid Mehsud, the leader of the TTP's most powerful faction, the Mehsud Taliban.
After Khalid Mehsud's February 2018 assassination in a drone strike, Noor Wali Mehsud succeeded him as head of the Mehsud Taliban.
Also in early 2018, Mufti Noor Wali Mehsud was promoted to deputy head of the TTP, second in command to then leader,
Maulana Fazlullah
Fazal Hayat (1974 – 14 June 2018), more commonly known by his pseudonym Mullah Fazlullah (Pashto/ ur, ), was an Islamist militant who was the leader of the Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi, and was the leader of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Paki ...
.
Fazlullah was killed in a US drone strike in Afghanistan on June 14, 2018 and after a week-long deliberation period, the TTP named Mufti Noor Wali Mehsud as the group's emir.
False assassination claims
False reports were widely reported in Pakistani media that Mehsud was killed in a drone strike in Afghanistan on the 25th of June 2021. The TTP denied the claim.
The claim was proven false after CNN published a video interview with Mehsud on 26 July 2021.
Beliefs and writings
A religious scholar (being a
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 ...
), Noor Wali Mehsud is the head of TTP’s publications department and is himself a prolific writer, his most famous work being the November 2017-released 690-page book ''Inquilaab Mehsud South Waziristan:Farangi Raj se Ameriki Samraj tak'', translated as ''The Mehsud Revolution in South Waziristan: From
British Raj
The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent;
*
* it is also called Crown rule in India,
*
*
*
*
or Direct rule in India,
* Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...
to Oppressive America''.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mehsud, Noor Wali
Living people
Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan members
1978 births
People designated by the Al-Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Committee
Leaders of Islamic terror groups
Pakistani Islamists