Pakistani Government-Backed Tribal Leader, Qari Zainuddin Assassinated

Rival to Pakistan Taliban chief Mehsud assassinated

by S.H. Khan S.h. Khan

June 23, 2009

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AFP) –

A tribal leader and top rival to Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud was shot dead Tuesday, police said, as the army readied for an assault on Mehsud's wild northwest base.

Qari Zainuddin, a young rising militant leader who was increasingly critical of his clansman Mehsud's use of suicide bombings targeting civilians, was killed at a house in the northwestern town of Dera Ismail Khan.

The assassination comes a week after the army said it was extending a northwest offensive against Pakistani Taliban fighters into the tribal belt along the Afghan border -- a campaign Zainuddin told local media he would support.

Also Tuesday, two suspected US missile strikes hit a Mehsud stronghold, killing 17 people in the tribal South Waziristan region, where Pakistani jets have also been pounding militant targets ahead of a full-scale offensive.

"According to preliminary reports, the tribal warlord (Zainuddin) was asleep in his office after morning prayers when one of his accomplices opened fire on him," local police official Salah-ud-din Khan told AFP.

Khan said Zainuddin -- who was reported to be aged between 26 and 31 -- was pronounced dead at a hospital in Dera Ismail Khan town, which is in the district of the same name bordering South Waziristan.

Another local police official, Ghulam Rabbani, said: "Qari Zainuddin has been assassinated."

Police and intelligence officials identified the shooter as a guard named Gulbudin Mehsud, who escaped after the attack.

Officials gave no motive for the killing, but Zainuddin's aide Baz Mohammad, who witnessed the attack, told AFP that the gunman was "an agent of Baitullah Mehsud."

"We were resting in a room after pre-dawn prayers when suddenly firing started. I saw a man... his name is Gulbudin, firing on us," Mohammad said.

Analysts said Mehsud would be keen to demonstrate his hold on the tribal areas amid splits in Taliban factions that the military was keen to exploit.

"This shows that Baitullah Mehsud is still entrenched in South Waziristan and he is capable of eliminating his rivals," said Hasan Askari, a visiting professor at Johns Hopkins University.

"This also means that his power and military manoeuvrability has not been reduced by the initiation of army operations in South Waziristan."

Pakistani troops are wrapping up an almost two-month-long operation against Taliban rebels in northwest Swat valley, and are preparing to soon launch a second front against Mehsud and his network along the rugged tribal belt.

The army said in its daily update Tuesday that they were in the final phases of the Swat campaign, while it said militants had attacked government forces in the tribal zones of Bajaur and South Waziristan.

Security officials, meanwhile, said a US drone aircraft fired missiles at Taliban buildings in South Waziristan, with six (alleged Pakistani Taliban fighters) killed.

As they gathered for funeral prayers, a second strike killed at least 11 more people, security and intelligence officials said.

Zainuddin spilt from Mehsud's Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan group nine months ago, and was quoted in The News newspaper last week saying: "It is time to eliminate Baitullah now, otherwise no such opportunity would come in future."

Analysts have said that the military would likely try to fan the rivalries among the Mehsud tribe to gain allies before any assault in the tribal belt.

"He is going to be a tough and difficult opponent for the military... but the army can exploit this situation," said Askari.

"This assassination will cause increased conflict between Baitullah and the followers of the assassinated leader."

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