20 Facts About Abdullah Mehsud

Abdullah Mehsud was a Pashtun militant commander who was killed by Pakistani Army in Zhob after security forces raided his dwelling in Zhob, Balochistan, Pakistan.

Abdullah Mehsud was born in 1977 in Nano village of South Waziristan, and was a Pashtun, part of the Mehsud tribe's SlimiKhel clan in South Waziristan which is the homeland of the Meshud tribe located in northwest Pakistan.

Abdullah Mehsud fought against the Northern Alliance and lost a leg to a landmine in 1996.

Abdullah Mehsud was handed over to the US and spent 25 months in Guantanamo Bay detention camp, where he was fitted with a prosthetic limb.

Abdullah Mehsud was released by the US and returned to South Waziristan.

Abdullah Mehsud commanded a force of up to 5,000 Taliban fighters.

Abdullah Mehsud then began initiating attacks on coalition soldiers in Afghanistan.

In Waziristan, Abdullah Mehsud was believed to be behind the kidnapping of two Chinese engineers from the building of the Gomal Zam Dam, which left one hostage dead during a botched rescue attempt.

Abdullah Mehsud was alleged to have been behind an attack on Pakistan's Interior Minister Aftab Ahmad Sherpao that killed 31 people.

Abdullah Mehsud consistently denied having any affiliation with al Qaida.

Abdullah Mehsud claimed to have received no weapons or military training due to his handicap.

Abdullah Mehsud claimed that after 11 September 2001 he was forcibly conscripted by the Taliban military.

In 2005, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf announced that Abdullah Mehsud had been killed by ISI forces, only to later retract the statement.

Abdullah Mehsud was one of the first three former Guantanamo captives the Bush Presidency reported had returned to the battlefield.

Sikh Spectrum reported that during a telephone interview in 2004, Abdullah Mehsud promised to never surrender.

On 24 July 2007, Abdullah Mehsud was at a house with other militants in Zhob, Balochistan.

Abdullah Mehsud was holding a grenade in hand intended to kill the soldiers but he fell down due to injuries and blown by grenade During the raid, several other militants were killed, Abdul Rahman Mehsud and Muhammad Azam, were captured along with a local Pakistani Taliban leader.

Islam Online reports that Baitullah suspected that Abdullah Mehsud was a double agent.

The Defense Intelligence Agency asserted Abdullah Mehsud Mahsud had "returned to terrorism".

Abdullah Mehsud Mahsud blew himself up to avoid capture by Pakistani forces in July 2007.