Maulvi Nazir, also known as Mullah Nazir, or Maulvi Nazir Wazir, (

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 ...

: مولوي نذیر وزیر) was a prominent commander of the

Pakistani Taliban The Pakistani Taliban, officially the Tehreek-i-Taliban-e-Pakistan (TTP), is an umbrella organization of various Islamist armed militant groups operating along the Afghan–Pakistani border. Formed in 2007 by Baitullah Mehsud, its current ...

South Waziristan South Mahsud Waziristan District () was a Districts of Pakistan, district in the Dera Ismail Khan Division of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, before splitting into the Lower South Waziristan District and the Upper South Waziristan D ...

based in Wana. He was a

dual citizen Multiple citizenship (or multiple nationality) is a person's legal status in which a person is at the same time recognized by more than one sovereign state, country under its nationality law, nationality and citizenship law as a national or cit ...

of Afghanistan and Pakistan, and had a significant role in

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) ...

affairs in both countries. He was killed by a US

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 ...

on 2 January 2013.

Early life

Nazir was a member of the Kakakhel tribe, which have

Sayyid ''Sayyid'' is an honorific title of Hasanid and Husaynid lineage, recognized as descendants of the Islamic prophet Muhammad through his daughter Fatima and Ali's sons Hasan ibn Ali, Hasan and Husayn ibn Ali, Husayn. The title may also refer ...

origins and are a part of the Ahmadzai, which are part of the Wazir. He was estimated to have been born in 1975. He had citizenship of both

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 ...

and Pakistan, and owned property in

Kandahar Kandahar is a city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city, after Kabul, with a population of about 614,118 in 2015. It is the capital of Kandahar Pro ...

until 2010. During the

Soviet–Afghan War The Soviet–Afghan War took place in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan from December 1979 to February 1989. Marking the beginning of the 46-year-long Afghan conflict, it saw the Soviet Union and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic o ...

and ensuing Afghan civil wars, he was affiliated with Hezbe Islami Gulbuddin. He later joined the

and aligned himself politically with the JUI party of Fazal-ur-Rehman. In Pakistan, he controlled large portions of

, and maintained his influence in the Afghan provinces of Paktika, Zabul,

Helmand Helmand (Pashto/Dari: ; ), also known as Hillmand, in ancient times, as Hermand and Hethumand, is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, in the south of the country. It is the largest province by area, covering area. The province contains 18 ...

, and Kandahar.

Career

With the notable approval of Mullah Dadullah and

Sirajuddin Haqqani Sirajuddin Haqqani (, ; aliases '' Khalifa'' and Siraj Haqqani; born December 1979) is an Afghan leader who is the first deputy leader of Afghanistan and the acting interior minister in the post-2021 Taliban regime. He has been a deputy lead ...

, Maulvi Nazir was authorised to implement

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'' ...

in South Waziristan in 2006, and the Afghan Taliban had instructed him to avoid confrontations with the Pakistani army. Maulvi Nazir eventually overthrew Maulvi Omar and became the leader of the Taliban in Wana. Maulvi Omar was close to Baitullah Mehsud, a rival of Maulvi Nazir. Throughout his conflict with Baitullah Mehsud, Maulvi Nazir was supported by the

Afghan Taliban , leader1_title = Supreme leaders , leader1_name = {{indented plainlist, * Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013) * Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016) * Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) , leader2_title = Gov ...

, who opposed Baitullah Mehsud due to his attacks on Pakistan. In 2006,

Mullah Omar Muhammad Umar Mujahid (196023 April 2013), commonly known as Mullah Omar or Muhammad Omar, was an Afghan militant leader and founder and the first leader of the Taliban from 1994 until his death in 2013. During the Third Afghan Civil War, the T ...

endorsed Maulvi Nazir as the emir of South Waziristan.Talibanistan: Negotiating the Borders Between Terror, Politics, and Religion, 2013, pp. 184-185 In the Graveyard of Empires: America's War in Afghanistan, Seth G. Jones, 2010, pp. 262Jihadism in Pakistan: Al-Qaeda, Islamic State and the Local Militants, Antonio Giustozzi, 2023, pp. 67-68 Mullah Omar later disassociated himself from Baitullah Mehsud after he continued to attack Pakistan. In March 2007, Maulvi Nazir ordered the expulsion of all

Uzbeks The Uzbeks () are a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group native to Central Asia, being among the largest Turkic ethnic groups in the area. They comprise the majority population of Uzbekistan, next to Kazakhs, Kazakh and Karakalpaks, Karakalpak ...

from Waziristan, and sparked the 2007 Wana clashes against the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) led by Tahir Yuldashev. Maulvi Nazir later succeeded in expelling the Uzbeks. Tensions continued between Maulvi Nazir and Baitullah Mehsud. In early 2009,

asked Maulvi Nazir and Baitullah Mehsud to put aside differences and aid the Afghan Taliban in combating the American presence in Afghanistan. Maulvi Nazir, Baitullah Mehsud, and Hafiz Gul Bahadur agreed to form Shura Ittihad ul-Mujahideen to focus on fighting

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

in Afghanistan. Shortly after the establishment of the union, tensions resurged between Baitullah Mehsud and Maulvi Nazir, and the union collapsed. Baitullah Mehsud was later killed on August 5, 2009. The tensions between Maulvi Nazir and the mainstream TTP continued until a peace deal between Maulvi Nazir and Hakimullah Mehsud was reached in 2011.

Death

Maulvi Nazir was killed by an American drone strike on 2 January 2013 in Angur Ada, near the capital of Wana, South Waziristan. Bahawal Khan, also known as Salahuddin Ayubi, was his successor.Bahawal Khan to succeed Pakistan militant leader Mullah Nazir
BBC, 4 January 2013

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nazir, Maulvi Taliban leaders 1975 births 2013 deaths Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan members Pashtun people Pakistani people of Afghan descent Afghan people of Pakistani descent Deaths by American drone strikes in Pakistan People with multiple citizenship