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WEEKLY
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| Fragmented force? |
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Friday, August 21, 2009
The unexpected announcement by Maulvi Faqir Muhammad from Bajaur, the deputy chief of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan since the end of 2007, may yet bring the force a little closer to fragmentation. While Faqir Muhammad has in some versions of the statement he has given to the national media stated other key contenders for leadership had backed him, in other comments he has said that as deputy, he had a right to take over. This publication received a call from at least one Taliban commander questioning this right and stating that other figure making up the group knew nothing about Faqir’s announcement. Oddly enough, Faqir Muhammad says Baitullah Mehsud is indeed alive, but seriously ill and unable to continue as TTP leader. This of course contrasts with a confirmation reported from Maulvi Omar, the TTP spokesmen captured in Mohmand Agency, that Baitullah was indeed dead.
The signs are there of an organization caught in a swirl of confusion with no clear-cut agreement on future leadership. It is to be seen how many will accept Faqir Muhammad. The fact that the TTP has separate organizations based in different areas makes the matter of uniting it under one leadership even more fraught with peril. Some have already raised the possibility of a potentially dangerous splintering of the TTP and as such added complexities in fighting it. It is clear the group is in chaos and this would then seem to represent the right time to go after it militarily, before it can regroup in any form, and deliver a blow to further cripple it.
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ISSN 1563-9479 
