A Taliban commander and spokesman who claimed credit for running suicide camps and executing suicide attacks in Pakistan has been gunned down in the tribal agency of North Waziristan, according to reports from the region.
Shakirullah Shakir, a leader and spokesman for the Fedayeen-e-Islam, was shot and killed today as he was riding a motorcycle in the Miramshah area. He was killed by unknown gunmen who were traveling in a sports utility vehicle with tinted windows, Pakistani intelligence officials told Dawn. His death has not been confirmed by the Taliban.
Shakir, who is also known as Shakirullah Mehsud, serves as a commander under Qari Hussain Mehsud, the Taliban’s top trainer of suicide bombers. Qari Hussain leads the Fedayeen-e-Islam, an alliance between the Pakistani Taliban, the anti-Shia Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Jaish-e-Mohammed, and other terror groups. The Fedayeen-e-Islam is also closely linked to al Qaeda [see LWJ report, Terror alliance takes credit for Peshawar hotel assault for more information on the Fedayeen-e-Islam].
The Fedayeen-e-Islam has claimed credit for multiple suicide attacks in Pakistan. Shakir has contacted the media to claim suicide attacks. On Sept. 3, 2010, Shakir claimed that his group executed the suicide attacks in Quetta and Mardan that killed 55 Pakistanis. And on Jan. 25, Shakir claimed credit for a pair of suicide attacks on Shia worshippers in Lahore and Karachi that killed 16 Pakistanis.
Most recently, Shakir contacted the media to boast about suicide camps in North Waziristan. He claimed that more than 1,000 suicide bombers are currently being trained in the three camps that are situated in the Mir Ali area.
“We have three facilities exclusively for fedayeen,” he told The Express Tribune. “Each one has more than 350 men being trained in it.”
Shakir also admitted that the Fedayeen-e-Islam was an element of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, the terror group that carries out attacks in both Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, which is led by Hakeemullah Mehsud, attempted to carry out a car bombing in Times Square in New York City on May 1, 2010.
“Fedayeen-e-Islam is a part of the overall chain of command of the TTP but it works separately and has its own structures,” Shakir told The Express Tribune.
11 Comments
If true,I’d say he deserved every bullet.
Bill, whom do you feel would be the most likely perpetrator(s) of such a hit? For clearly this evil, murderous thug was assassinated. I’d love to believe it was the work of our own deadly SpecialOps forces, but doubt a speeding SUV with tinted windows fits their MO….
An ISI hit, for whatever reason. A bunch of armed men, riding around the tribal areas in an SUV with tinted windows, and they pick off a key player with no muss, no fuss. No outsiders this
what about ISI? maybe he talked too much.
Given that he trained and coordinated suicide bombers, and that most of the casualties from suicide bombers are civilians, and that all the tribal cultures in the area are very big on revenge, maybe this was just some tribal militia that got smart and lucky?
These guys have plenty of enemies in the neighborhood, who may have wanted to kill him for their own purposes or in the employ of the CIA. I would guess they were mercenaries recruited from one of the tribal Lashkars hostile to the Taliban.
Thankfully, whomever killed this scumbag, had the generosity of spirit or lack of foresight to kill a very motivated and determined enemy of the United States. As one commentator has said, I would like to believe US special forces assassinated this laudless man, but it was most likely just some Pashtun that had a bad day.
I can just see it now, a bunch of tribesmen putting on their sunglasses and aggressively rolling down the car windows as they approach him on the dirt road. They get a target, drive up to him, then point their SMG’s out the window and end this demon’s life.
I don’t think Shakirullah has appeared on any propaganda tapes, but it doesn’t matter. He runs multiple suicide training camps as well as boasts in interviews with AP and such that he runs his own “fedayeen” group that churns out young men in an assembly line to become suicide bombers and ruin/end their life.
He deserved every bit of what he got, and I hope he felt all those bullets before he finally died. Contrary to what some people may believe about the tribal people, their culture is the reverse of what most people portray them as. They are gentle, kind willing to do *ANTYHING* for their guests *AS LONG* as their guests respect them. If any guest in the world disrespects them, they will receive retaliation for their actions.
So, I agree with the other posters here. Most likely, some tribesmen did not like the fact that he brainwashed a fellow tribal of theirs and they decided to take revenge.
Now, for the next step: Neutralize and destroy all suicide camps in NWA. The Pakistani army and air force has the ability to do this; they could absolutely flatten those camps if they really wanted to. Someone must convince the Pakistani Air Force to at least target the Bad Militant training facilities, IED facilities, and suicide training camps. Nobody should listen to Pakistan when they say they don’t have the ability to carry out an NWA operation; they absolutely do!
We could do with CIA trained hit squads working in North and Siouth Waziristan taking out leaders of TTP,AlQ and Haqqanni organistaions!
Commenter “Soccer” is right on the money with his post. The horrific sad truth is that whoever gunned down Shakirullah is neither unique nor unusual behavior. The idiotic idea of nation building, read one world government, is just not going to happen, ever. To my knowledge, these tribes have never been conquered. Their ways and customs predate Abraham. Why would I as a family leader suddenly opt out of my role of family patriarch and abdicate my position in favor of some unknown person far away? Particularly if I am very old and the gifts are keeping me alive. If I can not take care of an issue the supplicant who has brought me a very nice gift will be given my permission to go my elder leader and bring him a very nice gift to try to settle the issue. This system has been followed for at least 4,500 years. We can never “pacify” Afghanistan for the simple reason that they have no wish, will, or desire to tell their family, clan, tribe, leaders at every level: “You are fired !”
Maybe we have our own guerillas? Locals working for CIA?