4 Threat Matrix: Nazir orders Mehsud Taliban to leave Wana

Written by Bill Roggio on August 29, 2010 3:51 AM to 4 Threat Matrix

Available online at: http://www.longwarjournal.org/threat-matrix/archives/2010/08/nazir_orders_mehsud_taliban_to.php

Just days after a suicide attack at a mosque in Wana, the main town in South Waziristan, Mullah Nazir has ordered members of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan to leave the area. Nazir believes that followers of Hakeemullah Mehsud were responsible for the bombing that killed Maulana Noor Mohammed, a pro-government and pro-Taliban cleric and former member of parliament, and 32 other people. From the Press Trust of India:

Witnesses yesterday said Maulana Halimullah, a close associate of Maulvi Nazir, distributed pamphlets in Wana asking [Hakeemullah] Mehsud's supporters to leave areas dominated by the Ahmadzai Wazir tribe.

"We will take stern action against the culprits if they do not leave Wana in two days," the pamphlet said.

Over the past two weeks, tensions between Nazir and Hakeemullah have risen after a clash in Wana between followers of the two groups that resulted in the deaths of three people.

Keep in mind that Nazir, as part of his deal with the Pakistani government, wasn't supposed to shelter Hakeemullah Mehsud's leaders or fighters.