Hakim Ullah Mahsud حکیم‌الله محسود

Hakimullah (Hakim Ullah, Hakeemullah) Mehsud (Pashto/Urdu: حکیم‌الله محسود), born c. 1979 as Jamshed Mehsud (Pashto/Urdu: جمشید محسود) and also known as Zulfiqar Mehsud (Pashto/Urdu: ذو الفقار محسود‎), is the Emir of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). He was deputy to commander Baitullah Mehsud and one of the leaders of the militant group Fedayeen al-Islam prior to the elder Mehsud's death in a CIA drone missile strike. He had been the TTP's commander in the Khyber, Kurram and Orakzai agencies of Pakistan.

 

He is described as being in his late 20s and a cousin of Qari Hussain. He is known to be a young and aggressive field commander, who previously served as a driver and was very close to Baitullah Mehsud. Hakimullah Mehsud maintains ties to al-Qaeda, the Afghan Taliban and various Pakistani jihadist groups, such as Lashkar-e-Taiba, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, and Jaish-e-Mohammed. Reports initially indicated he was fatally wounded on January 14, 2010 by a U.S. drone attack although two videos released by the TTP in 2010 and 2011 proved that he survived the attack. Mehsud was reported by Pakistani intelligence to have been killed by US drone strike on 12 January 2012. However, the Pakistani