Wali-ur-Rehman (Wali Ur-Rehman Mehsud) (1970 – 29 May 2013) was a senior

Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan 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 ...

(TTP) commander based in

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 ...

. Wali-ur-Rehman was formerly a spokesman for

Baitullah Mehsud Baitullah Mehsud ( – 5 August 2009) was a Pakistani militant. He was one of the founders and a leader of the Pakistani Taliban (TTP) in Waziristan. He formed the TTP from an alliance of about five militant groups in December 2007.Abbas, Hassan ...

, the late leader of the TTP.

Background

Wali-ur-Rehman's family hails from the Mal Khel branch of the Mehsud tribe in South Waziristan. In 1996, he finished studies at the Jamia Islamia Imdadia madrassa in

Faisalabad Faisalabad, formerly known as Lyallpur, is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, second-largest city and primary List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, industrial center of the Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan ...

and returned to South Waziristan to teach in a madrassa in Kani Guram. He was affiliated with the

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (, abbreviated as JUI, translated as Assembly of Islamic Clergy) is a Deobandi Sunni Muslim organization that was founded on 26 October 1945 by Shabbir Ahmad Usmani as a pro-Pakistan offshoot of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind (JUH ...

(JUI-F) party prior to joining the Taliban in 2004. Following

's death in a missile attack launched from a

Predator drone The General Atomics MQ-1 Predator (often referred to as the Predator drone) is an American remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) built by General Atomics that was used primarily by the United States Air Force (USAF) and Central Intelligence Agency ( ...

, a

shura Shura () is the term for collective decision-making in Islam. It 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 praise ...

convened to choose his successor to lead the Pakistani Taliban. Wali-ur-Rehman was considered a contender for leadership. On 9 August 2009, it was rumored that a heated exchange at the shura escalated to open gunfire, and Wali-ur-Rehman allegedly shot

Hakimullah Mehsud Hakimullah Mehsud (born Jamshed Mehsud; − 1 November 2013), also known as Zulfiqar Mehsud, was a Pakistani militant who was the second emir of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan from 2009 to 2013. It was confirmed by TTP that he was killed in a U.S. d ...

, another leadership contender. Rehman called a

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...

reporter to deny that there was fighting or a shura. He and Hakimullah later telephoned the

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 ...

to confirm the death of Baitullah Mehsud. On 2 November 2009, Pakistani authorities offered a Rs50 million ($600,000) reward for information that leads to the capture or killing of Wali-ur-Rehman. They offered the same reward for similar information regarding Hakimullah Mehsud and Qari Hussain and smaller rewards for 16 other TTP militants. On 1 September 2010, the United States added he and

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 U.S. Department of the Treasury. An SDGT designation is made under authority of U.S. Executive ...

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 i ...

s. On 26 August 2011, an interview with him was aired on

Al-Arabiya TV Al Arabiya (, Romanization of Arabic, transliterated: '; meaning "The Arabic One" or "The Arab One") is a Saudi state-owned International broadcasting, international Modern Standard Arabic, Arabic news television channel. It is based in Riyadh ...

, in which he threatened to "wreak vengeance" on the U.S. and

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 ...

(especially France and Britain) with "an attack greater than 9/11."

Death

On 29 May 2013, Wali-ur-Rehman was reportedly killed by a US drone strike on a compound in the Chashma area of

Miranshah Mīrānshāh ()() is a main town in the region 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 surrounded by the foo ...

, the main town of the

North Waziristan North Waziristan District (, ) is a Districts of Pakistan, district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. It is the northern part of Waziristan, a mountainous region of northwest Pakistan, bordering Afghanistan and covering . The capital ...

tribal region in northwest Pakistan near the border with Afghanistan. The strike also killed six of his associates. His death was confirmed by

Tehrik-e-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 ...

spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan on 30 May 2013.

Retaliatory attack

In retaliation, the Jundul Hafsa group of the Taliban took credit for storming the base camp of the mountain Nanga Parbat. Two guides were abducted, who led them to a site where 10 foreign tourists were killed, including two Chinese, one Chinese-American and one Nepalese. Other reports said five Ukrainians and one Russian were killed. A Taliban spokesman stated "By killing foreigners, we wanted to give a message to the world to play their role in bringing an end to the drone attacks."Fox News American among 10 foreign tourists shot dead in Pakistan. Published 23 June 2013 Associated Press
/ref>

References

{{Tehrik Deobandis 1970 births 2013 deaths Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List Individuals designated as terrorists by the United States government Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F) politicians Pashtun people Taliban spokespersons Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan members Deaths by American drone strikes in Pakistan Pakistani Islamists

Background

Death

Retaliatory attack

See also

References