Hakimullah Mehsud (Pashto/Urdu: حکیم اللہ محسود; c. 1978-1981 − 1 November 2013), born Jamshed Mehsud (جمشید محسود) and also known as Zulfiqar Mehsud (ذو الفقار محسود), was a Pakistani militant who was the second emir of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, elected to the post on 22 August 2009.[1] It was confirmed by TTP that he was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Pakistan on 1 November 2013.[2][3]
Hakimullah was born as Jamshed Mehsud in the region of Kotkai in South Waziristan.[9] According to the FBI's Most Wanted Terrorists list, Mehsud was born within the years ranging from 1978 to 1981. One birth date listed is 1 January 1980.[10]
According to a short seven-page autobiography 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 from the Orakzai District, and in terms of religious activities he says he spent many months in a preaching mission with the Tablighi Jamaat.[11]
Journalists who met him generally described him as hospitable and humorous in everyday life[13] while Imtiaz Gul, head of the Center for Research and Security Studies, wrote in 2010 that "Hakimullah, more than six feet tall, radiates a certain charisma."[14]
Militant activities
Early activities
Jamshed Mehsud joined his clansman Baitullah in jihad, initially as his bodyguard and aide.[12] He adopted the nom de guerre Zulfiqar, then later took the name Hakimullah, meaning one who has knowledge.[9] He gained a reputation within the Taliban for his battle skills with the AK-47 and the Toyotapick-up truck. One Taliban member told a BBC correspondent that at the time Hakimullah's reputed skills were second only to Nek Mohammad.[12]
In 2004, he was made a spokesman.[9] 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 six times.[8] In 2008, he was given command of the Orakzai, Khyber and Kurram districts.[9]
Tehrik-e-Taliban leadership
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 during a shura to determine the successor to the slain Baitullah Mehsud. Interior Minister Rehman Malik could not confirm the death only that the fighting had occurred.[15] 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.[16]
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.
On 22 August 2009, Hakimullah Mehsud was appointed unanimously as the new leader of the Tehrik-e-Taliban by a 42-member shura.[1][17][18] Analysts cited by The Daily Times 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.[18][19]
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.[22]
Rewards for capture
Pakistan bounty
On 2 November 2009 Pakistani authorities offered a Rs50 million ($600,000)[23] 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.[24][25]
Mehsud aimed to transform Pakistan into an Islamic state, in a video message released in July 2009 arguing that "We are not the enemies of Pakistan or the Pakistani nation. Instead we are the enemies of the kufr democratic system that has been forced on us. This system is unjust and despotic. This unethical and tyrannical setup is kufr system irrelevant to sharia" while in another video he said that "Taliban are not the enemies of Pakistan, its army or its administrators" adding that "if the administrators can implement the order of the Prophet (nizam-e-Mustafa) then we can address the hypocrites in India."[28]
Under Mehsud's leadership the TTP attacks targeted what they considered to be hypocrites or munafaqeen, those who TTP declared to be spreading "discord" in Pakistan. This meant not only religious minorities like the Ahmedi and the Shia Muslims, but also the Barelvi sect of Sunni Islam, which made up more than half of the population of Pakistan, and is known for its Sufi activities. The TTP thus began "openly attacking Sufi shrines", Mehsud and TTP being of the rival Deobandi Sunni sect.[29]
Death
Reports initially indicated he was fatally wounded on 14 January 2010 by a U.S. drone attack[30][31] although two videos released by the TTP in 2010 and 2011 proved that he survived the attack.[32] Mehsud was reported by Pakistani intelligence to have been killed by a U.S. drone strike on 12 January 2012.[33] However, the Pakistani Taliban denied the claim.[34]
On 1 November 2013, a senior Taliban source confirmed that a US drone strike in Pakistan killed Mehsud in the village of Dande Darpa Khel in North Waziristan.[2] 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.[35]
At the time of his death, he was living in a farmhouse worth $120 000, equipped with marble floors, green lawns and a tall minaret, where he used to grow apples, oranges, grapes and pomegranates.[36]
^"Fighting erupts between Taliban rivals". Financial Times. 8 August 2009. Retrieved 8 August 2009. Pakistani news channels were carrying unconfirmed reports that Hakimullah Mehsud, one of the movement's most powerful commanders, had been killed at a shura, or council meeting, held to decide who would succeed slain leader Baitullah Mehsud. "The infighting was between Wali-ur-Rehman and Hakimullah Mehsud," Interior Minister Rehman Malik told Reuters. "We have information that one of them has been killed. Who was killed we will be able to say later after confirming."
^Khoja-Moolji, Shenila (2021). Sovereign Attachments: Masculinity, Muslimness, and Affective Politics in Pakistan. University of California Press. p. 89.
