24 Facts About Baitullah Mehsud

Baitullah Mehsud was one of the founders and a leader of the Pakistani Taliban in Waziristan.

Baitullah Mehsud formed the TTP from an alliance of about five militant groups in December 2007.

Baitullah Mehsud is thought by US military analysts to have commanded up to 5,000 fighters and to have been behind numerous attacks in Pakistan including the assassination of Benazir Bhutto which he and others have denied.

Later Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan commander Hakimullah Mehsud denied previous TTP announcements and said Mehsud was in good health.

On 23 August 2009, Hakimullah Mehsud and Wali-ur-Rehman telephoned the BBC to say that Baitullah Mehsud had died on 23 August 2009 due to injuries sustained during the 5 August attack.

Baitullah Mehsud was born in 1970 in the Landi Dhok village in the Bannu District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, which lies some distance from the Mehsud tribe's base in the South Waziristan Agency, his native village there being Dwatoi in the Ladha Subdivision, his father having moved to Bannu for work.

Baitullah Mehsud avoided media attention and refused to be photographed in adherence with his religious beliefs.

Baitullah Mehsud emerged as a major tribal leader soon after the 2004 death of Nek Mohammad.

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

Baitullah Mehsud entered into a ceasefire with Pakistani authorities on 8 February 2005.

Baitullah Mehsud was offered US$20 million for his cooperation in the ceasefire.

Baitullah Mehsud declined the money and told Pakistani authorities that they should use the pay-out to "compensate families who had suffered during the military operation".

The ceasefire agreement ended in July 2005 when after accusing the government of reneging on the deal, Baitullah Mehsud resumed attacks on security forces.

Baitullah Mehsud has divided it into various units and assigned particular tasks to each unit.

In December 2007, Baitullah Mehsud was declared the first leader of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan.

In February 2008, Baitullah Mehsud announced that he had agreed to another ceasefire with the government of Pakistan although the Pakistani military claimed that operations against Baitullah Mehsud's forces continued.

In July 2008, Baitullah Mehsud issued a statement that threatened to take action against the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government if it did not step down within five days.

On 27 March 2009, Pakistan's Daily Times reported that Baitullah Mehsud's group was engaged in a dispute with Qari Zainuddin's group for control of South Waziristan.

Qari Zainuddin stated that Baitullah Mehsud's group was not practicing jihad because Islam forbids suicide attacks.

Two of his followers, Maulana Meraj and Hakimullah Baitullah Mehsud, denied the report the following day, dismissing it as "rumors" intended to negatively impact the Taliban's spread of jihad.

Preliminary investigations concerning the September 2007 bombings in Rawalpindi note that Baitullah Mehsud is the primary suspect behind the attacks.

On 18 January 2008, The Washington Post reported that the CIA has concluded that Baitullah Mehsud was behind the Bhutto assassination.

In telephone interviews with news media Baitullah Mehsud claimed responsibility for 30 March 2009 attack on the police training academy in Lahore.

Baitullah Mehsud told the BBC that the attack was in retaliation for continued missile strikes from American drones for which the Pakistani government shared responsibility.