Fazlullah (militant Leader)
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Fazal Hayat (1974 – 15 June 2018), more commonly known by his pseudonym Mullah Fazlullah (
Pashto Pashto ( , ; , ) is an eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family, natively spoken in northwestern Pakistan and southern and eastern Afghanistan. It has official status in Afghanistan and the Pakistani province of Khyb ...
/), was an Islamist
jihadist Jihadism is a neologism for modern, armed militant Political aspects of Islam, Islamic movements that seek to Islamic state, establish states based on Islamic principles. In a narrower sense, it refers to the belief that armed confrontation ...
militant who was the leader of the
Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM, ) is an Islamic extremist militant group. The group swore an Bay'ah, oath of loyalty to Pakistani Taliban and become the part of it in 2007 aftermath the siege of Lal Masjid. The group's stated objecti ...
, and was the leader of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan in Swat Valley. He became the
emir Emir (; ' (), also Romanization of Arabic, transliterated as amir, is a word of Arabic language, Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocratic, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person po ...
of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan in 2013, and presided over the descent of the group into factions who are often at war with each other. Fazlullah was designated by the Al-Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Committee of the
Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...
in 2015, and was added to the U.S. State Department's Rewards for Justice wanted list on 7 March 2018. Fazlullah was killed in June 2018 by a U.S.
drone strike Drone warfare is a form of warfare using Military drone, military drones or Military robot, military robots. The robots may be Telerobotics, remote controlled or have varying levels of Autonomous robot, autonomy during their mission. Types of ro ...
in Kunar,
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
.


Birth and Marriage

Fazlullah was born Fazal Hayat in 1974 into a
Pashtun Pashtuns (, , ; ;), also known as Pakhtuns, or Pathans, are an Iranic ethnic group primarily residing in southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. They were historically also referred to as Afghans until 1964 after the ...
family in the
Swat District Swat District (), also known as the Swat Valley, is a Districts of Pakistan, district in the Malakand Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Known for its stunning natural beauty, the district is a popular tourist destination. With a populati ...
of
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ; , ; abbr. KP or KPK), formerly known as the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Northern Pakistan, northwestern region of the country, Khyber ...
, Pakistan.Roggio, Bill (7 July 2007
"Swat joins Talibanistan"
''The Long War Journal'' Public Multimedia Inc.
He married the daughter of Sufi Muhammad, the founder of
Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM, ) is an Islamic extremist militant group. The group swore an Bay'ah, oath of loyalty to Pakistani Taliban and become the part of it in 2007 aftermath the siege of Lal Masjid. The group's stated objecti ...
. It is rumoured that Fazlullah kidnapped Sufi Muhammad's daughter as a student in Sufi Muhammad Madrassa.
MSNBC MSNBC is an American cable news channel owned by the NBCUniversal News Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Launched on July 15, 1996, and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan, the channel primarily broadcasts r ...
, a news channel in the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, obtained a photo of Fazlullah in January 2008.


Militant activity


Operations in Pakistan


TNSM in Swat

On 12 January 2002, Fazlullah became the leader of
Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM, ) is an Islamic extremist militant group. The group swore an Bay'ah, oath of loyalty to Pakistani Taliban and become the part of it in 2007 aftermath the siege of Lal Masjid. The group's stated objecti ...
(TNSM) due to the enforcement of a ban by
Pervez Musharraf Pervez Musharraf (11 August 1943 – 5 February 2023) was a Pakistani general and politician who served as the tenth president of Pakistan from 2001 to 2008. Prior to his career in politics, he was a four-star general and appointed as ...
, former President of Pakistan. The ban led to the arrest and capture of Sufi Muhammad, which placed Fazlullah into the leadership role. Sufi Muhammad was freed in 2008 after he renounced violence. Fazlullah managed to restore the organization, bootstrapping on the relief efforts by Islamist extremist groups following the 8 October 2005-earthquake. New cadres then began moving into the Swat Valley.


Alliance with Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan

In the aftermath of the 2007 siege of Lal Masjid, Fazlullah's forces and Baitullah Mehsud's Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) formed an alliance. Fazlullah and his army henceforth reportedly received orders from Mehsud. A temporary cease-fire from May to September 2007 allowed Fazlullah to consolidate his political forces in Swat.


Parallel government

With the support of more than 4,500 militants, by late October 2007 Fazlullah had established a "parallel government" in 59 villages in Swat Valley by starting Islamic courts to enforce
sharia Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on Islamic holy books, scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran, Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' ...
law.


Reports of wounding

On 10 July 2009,
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
reported that Fazlullah was near death after being critically wounded, corroborating statements made by senior government and security officials in Pakistan. This was a day after the army announced it had wounded the Taliban chief in the Swat valley. The Taliban have denied that Fazlullah was critically injured. The Pakistan army, however, refuted this claim and insisted that a man impersonated Fazlullah when he allegedly denied that he was critically injured.


Madrassa

Fazlullah developed a $US2.5 million madrassa with assistance from the Taliban which was used as his base of operations. It was funded by the JEI faction led by Maulana Sami-ul-haq.


Operations from Afghanistan

On 29 November 2007, Pakistani security forces captured Fazlullah's headquarters and arrested his brother. Fazlullah himself had already fled to another village. Security Forces have now retaken most of the Swat region. In 2007, Fazlullah was allegedly hiding in the
Konar province Kunar (Pashto: ; Dari: ) is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the northeastern part of the country. Its capital is Asadabad. Its population is estimated to be 508,224. Kunar's major political groups include Wahhabis or Ahl-e- ...
in Afghanistan. On 26 January 2008, it was reported that Maulvi Abdul Raziq, a close aide of Fazlullah, was arrested in the Kot area of Charbagh. In November 2009, Fazlullah told the BBC's Urdu Service that he had escaped from Pakistan to Afghanistan and warned that he would continue to attack Pakistani forces in Swat. In October 2011, Maj Gen Athar Abbas complained to Reuters that Pakistan had urged Afghanistan and the US to take action against Fazlullah in response to cross-border raids in Dir, Bajaur and Mohmand from April 2011 to August 2011 but that no efforts had been made. Abbas elaborated, "Fazlullah and his group are trying to re-enter Swat through Dir." In June 2012, a TTP spokesman claimed that Fazlullah was leading attacks on Pakistan from Afghanistan's border provinces. Reuters indicated that he controlled a 20-km stretch of area in Nuristan province along the Pakistani border. On 3 December 2013, it was revealed to the media by TTP spokesperson that Fazlullah has crossed the Pak-Afghan border into Pakistan's tribal areas, he was expected to end the squabbling among the Taliban leadership relating to his appointment as new TTP Chief.


Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan leadership

After the death of Hakimullah Mehsud in a drone attack, Fazlullah was appointed the new "Emir" (Chief) of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan on 7 November 2013. According to Ehsanullah Ehsan, the former spokesperson for TTP, Mullah Fazlullah became the leader via lucky draw.


Army Public School attack in Peshawar

On 16 December 2014, six militants reportedly dressed as Pakistani Army soldiers entered the school through the graveyard situated on the backside of school and killed around 141 people including 132 students and the principal. In reaction to this massacre, Pakistan intensified its ongoing operation Zarb-e-Azab against the militants. Some Pakistani officials claim that Fazlullah masterminded the attack and subsequently hid on the Afghan side of the
Durand Line The Durand Line (; ; ), also known as the Afghanistan–Pakistan border, is a international border between Afghanistan and Pakistan in South Asia. The western end runs to the border with Iran and the eastern end to the border with China. The D ...
. He narrowly escaped a U.S. drone strike on 25 November 2014.


Views and opposition to female education

In 2001, many seats reserved for women in northern Pakistan went unfilled due in large part to the actions of the TNSM.Hussain, Zahid (29 July 2005
"Frontier women to defy Islamists' men-only ballot"
''The Times''
In 2005, Fazlullah was quoted as saying: ''We have our tradition that bans women from taking part in the elections and violators will be punished.'' Fazlullah started an illegal local FM channel in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa's Swat Valley in 2006. He preached forcing vice and virtue and had an anti-Western Jihadi stance. He was considered pro-
Taliban , leader1_title = Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, Supreme leaders , leader1_name = {{indented plainlist, * Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013) * Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016) * Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) ...
and was a very powerful figure in the area. He considered most communication-based electronics as "major sources of spreading Jihad" and transmitted broadcasts of his sermons on an illegal local FM radio channel, hence the nickname "Radio Mullah" or "Maulana Radio". FM signals were relayed from mobile transmitters mounted on motorcycles and trucks. During nightly broadcasts, prohibited activities were routinely declared and violators' names announced for assassination, which often included beheading. With Swat under Fazlullah's control, he and his followers quickly moved to set up the Sharia Courts as primary judicial courts instead of when he was running them parallel to the Pakistani National Judicial Courts. He led a drive of eradicating vices such as
music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...
,
dancing Dance is an art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoire of movements or ...
, and of what he calls "major sources of sin" such as TVs, CDs,
computer A computer is a machine that can be Computer programming, programmed to automatically Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (''computation''). Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic set ...
s and other video equipment by burning the electronics or the shops in which they are housed. Fazlullah threatened barbers who shaved their customers' beards and warned against girls attending schools. He opposed a
polio Poliomyelitis ( ), commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 75% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe ...
vaccination drive in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa claiming that aid workers were seeking to proselytise in the region, as well as spy for foreign forces. In some sermons he had also considered it against Islamic norms. He considered
Hepatitis C Hepatitis C is an infectious disease caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV) that primarily affects the liver; it is a type of viral hepatitis. During the initial infection period, people often have mild or no symptoms. Early symptoms can include ...
as a more important health issue than polio and questioned the West's intentions. The propaganda had hindered the drive immensely as the local people saw volunteers and workers for the
World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...
vaccination program as a threat and in some cases the immunization teams were physically beaten. On 9 October 2012, an assassin instructed by Fazlullah shot
Malala Yousafzai Malala Yousafzai (; , pronunciation: ; born 12 July 1997) is a Pakistani female education activist, film and television producer, and the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize laureate at the age of 17. She is the youngest Nobel Prize laureate in history, ...
. Although the attack was meant to kill Malala it made her a very respected and prominent leader.


Death

On 23 March 2015, Pakistani military forces and the Pakistani media reported that Fazlullah was killed on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. This claim was denied by Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan. On 14 June 2018, Fazlullah was killed in an American drone strike in
Kunar Province Kunar (Pashto: ; Dari: ) is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the northeastern part of the country. Its capital is Asadabad. Its population is estimated to be 508,224. Kunar's major political groups include Wahhabis or Ahl-e- ...
, Afghanistan. The TTP confirmed his death and announced Mufti Noor Wali Mehsud alias Abu Mansoor Asim as their new leader.


See also

* Abdul Rashid Ghazi * Adnan Rashid


References


External links


"Imam warns police against his arrest; FIR registered" 3 March 2007

NBC News obtains photograph of Fazlullah
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fazlullah, Maulana 1974 births 2018 deaths Pashtun people Pakistani radio personalities Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan members People from Swat District Pakistani expatriates in Afghanistan Pakistani Islamists Deaths by American drone strikes in Afghanistan People designated by the Al-Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Committee Leaders of jihadist groups