Martyr's Blood
"He was at a meeting at a nearby mosque to discuss the negotiations. He was killed as he got back to his house, probably just as he was getting out of his car, inside the walls of the compound."
Pakistani security source
"He moved every night. But at the same time, everyone knew which one was his house. It's not the sort of place where that sort of thing stays secret."
Danda Darpa Khel businessman
"We thought it was a C-130 aircraft but it was a special spy plane, bigger in size. The militants fired from their anti-aircraft guns to hit it but couldn't."
Farhad Khan, resident of Danda Darpa Khel
"Hakimullah Mehsud was an impediment to peace talks. Whatever the government says now, this will help push the Pakistan Taliban towards negotiations."
Shaukat Qadir, retired Pakistani army officer
FILE - In this file photo taken Sunday, Oct. 4, 2009, new Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud, left, is seen with his comrade Waliur Rehman, front center, during his meeting with media in Sararogha of Pakistani tribal area of South Waziristan along the Afghanistan border. Intelligence officials said Friday, Nov. 1, 2013 that the leader of the Pakistani Taliban Hakimullah Mehsud was one of three people killed in a U.S. drone strike. (AP Photo/Ishtiaq Mehsud, File)
"Every drop of Hakimullah's blood will turn into a suicide bomber. America and their friends shouldn't be happy because we will take revenge for our martyr's blood."As Hakimullah Mehsud was buried, the ceremony held in a secret place to prevent attracting additional drone strikes, locals shot off their guns toward the sky in nearby Miran Shah, as a traditional tribute to the slain Taliban leader, even while drones circled above. There are rumours circulating that Islamabad may have been involved in a strategy to remove the man from upcoming negotiations.
Azam Tariq, Pakistani Taliban spokesman
He had, in fact, returned from a meeting at a mosque nearby his home in Danda Darpa Khel, where the issue of the forthcoming negotiations was discussed. His vehicle was targeted and he was eliminated just as it arrived at the gate of his home. It's thought that the pending negotiations should have augered less reason for him to be so constantly alert to attack.
But that attack arrived just as it would seem he might have let his guard down. Complacency does that kind of thing. Two bodyguards and six other people, including Hakimullah Mehsud were killed in the drone strike. With his reputation for moving constantly, how might it have been known where he would be, to plan the attack? The government of Pakistan maintains a regional spy network, even while it had little authority in the area.
Its manufactured outrage over the strike, removing the Taliban chief just as talks on a peace agreement were set to take place is meant to screen itself from any measure of implication. Whoever ultimately emerges as the new chosen leader of the Taliban may signal the success or lack of it, of any negotiations. Not that negotiating with Islamist extremists is anything new for the government in Islamabad; former Prime Minister Pervez Musharraf famously had many such agreements.
The man chosen to act as interim leader, Asmatullah Shaheen Bhittani, may not, if he is ultimately chosen, be willing to negotiate as Hakimullah Mehsud claimed he would, if drone strikes would be called off. The Taliban shura council has several alternates, one of whom is Maulana Fazlullah, chief of the Swat Taliban, responsible for the attack on Malala Yousafzai last year, a schoolgirl who was determined to agitate on behalf of the education of Pakistan schoolgirls in the tribal areas.
Labels: Conflict, Islamists, Pakistan, Taliban, United States
posted by Pieface @ Monday, November 04, 2013
<< Home