New Leader Of Pakistani Taliban Could Splinter Group.

New Leader Of Pakistani Taliban Could Splinter Group.

Mullah Fazlullah, the new leader of the Pakistani Taliban 
 (AP Photo/SITE Intel Group)

WASHINGTON | 15 Nov 2013 :: The suspected U.S. drone strike that killed the leader of Pakistan’s Taliban (Tehrik-i-Taliban), Hakimullah Mehsud, has set off a power struggle within the militant group, and has exposed sharp divisions that analysts say could further destabilize the region as NATO combat forces leave neighboring Afghanistan in 2014.

Taliban sources and local journalists in turbulent North Waziristan and South Waziristan in Pakistan told VOA that the selection of hardline cleric Mullah Fazlullah as the new chief has left the group in disarray that may result in a splintering to smaller, difficult-to-control factions.

Fazlullah was selected by a council of Pakistani Taliban leaders after the death of its chief, Hakimullah Mehsud, November 1.  Fazlullah, who reportedly has the support of Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Omar, became known as ‘Mullah Radio’ for his fiery anti-Western and pro-jihadist speeches on FM radio in the Swat Valley of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province between 2007 and 2009   Exploiting anti-government sentiment in his home region and using brutal tactics, Fazlullah took control of the Swat Valley and instituted harsh Islamic rule that terrorized much of the population.

But in 2009, Pakistan's army launched an operation against militants in the area. Wounded in the fighting, Fazlullah managed to escape to Afghanistan, where analysts and journalists say he remains to this day.  In 2012 he claimed responsibility for ordering the failed assassination of the teenage activist, Malala Yousufzai, for her efforts to educate girls in Swat. (Source: AP/AFP).

Army, Pakistani Taliban exchange prisoners ahead of likely talks.

Army, Pakistani Taliban exchange prisoners ahead of likely talks.

Pakistani policemen escort a suspected
 militant of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan
. – File Photo by AFP

DERA ISMAIL KHAN | AP | 11 Sep 2013  ::  The armed forces of Pakistan and Taliban militants exchanged prisoners Wednesday as a confidence building measure ahead of possible peace talks, intelligence officials and a militant commander said.

The exchange included six militants of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and two paramilitary Frontier Corps soldiers, officials and the commander said.

It occurred in the Shawal area of the South Waziristan tribal region. The militants were subsequently taken to neighboring North Waziristan, the country's main Taliban sanctuary.

Militants fired in the air with joy when their colleagues were freed, the intelligence officials said. The officials and the Taliban commander spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to journalists.

The release occurred only days after Pakistan's main political parties endorsed peace negotiations with the Taliban and their allies Monday as the best way to end a decade-long insurgency that has killed thousands of people.

The exchange was meant to build confidence between the government and the militants before formal peace talks, the Pakistani Taliban commander said.

Senior Taliban leaders are currently discussing whether to take the government up on its offer to hold negotiations, said the commander and one of his colleagues.

The Taliban said they were open to talks at the end of last year but withdrew that offer in May after the group's deputy leader, Waliur Rehman was killed in a US drone strike.

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif campaigned on a platform of holding peace talks and has maintained that line since he took office in June. He scored a victory when his stance was endorsed by other parties on Monday – a decision that was generally welcomed by the Taliban.(Courtesy:Dawn)

Al-Qaeda suspects in Yemen killed in U.S. drone strike.

Al-Qaeda suspects in Yemen killed in U.S. drone strike.

U.S. drones strikes in Yemen nearly tripled in 2012compared to
 2011, from 18 to 53, according to the New America Foundation, a
 Washington-based think-tank. (File photo: AFP

Aden | AFP | 30 Jul 2013 :: A U.S. drone strike killed three suspected al-Qaeda militants in Yemen at dawn on Tuesday in the second such attack in three days, a tribal source told AFP.

"The car in which the three were travelling -- two Yemenis and a Saudi -- was blown to pieces and all of them were killed outright," the source said.

The attack struck in Shabwa, a southern province that borders Abyan, where Saturday night's strike hit.

"It was carried out by a U.S. drone," the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The strike targeted two vehicles on the road between Al-Aram and Al-Saeed.

"Only one vehicle was hit and the other got away," the source said.

The United States, the only country to operate drones in the region, has sharply increase its use of them against al-Qaeda targets in Yemen over the past two years.

Washington regards al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), a merger of militants in Yemen and neighboring Saudi Arabia, as the worldwide jihadist network's most active and dangerous branch.

U.S. drones strikes in Yemen nearly tripled in 2012 compared to 2011, from 18 to 53, according to the New America Foundation, a Washington-based think-tank.

A U.S. drone strike killed six suspected al-Qaeda militants in neighboring Abyan province on Saturday night, a Yemeni military source told AFP.

The six suspects were travelling in a two-vehicle convoy in the Mahfad mountains, an area of Abyan where the jihadists remain active despite the recapture of most of the province's main towns in a Yemeni army offensive last summer.

AQAP took advantage of the weakness of Yemen's central government during an uprising against now-ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh in 2011 to seize large swathes of territory across the south and east.

Washington has given strong support to the efforts of Saleh's successor, President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi, to reassert central government control.

President Barack Obama is to host Hadi for White House talks on Thursday.

Several AQAP leaders have been killed in U.S. drone strikes, most recently the network's deputy leader Saeed al-Shehri whose death was confirmed by the jihadists on July 17.

But, although weakened, AQAP still carries out frequent hit-and-run attacks against members of the Yemeni security forces.(Courtesy:Al Arabia)