- Mehsud faction of Pakistan Taliban defects, citing ideological differences
- The break comes after months of internal friction within the militant group
- Analysts say the split weakens the Taliban, government talks played a role
- It remands to be seen how Al Qaeda and splinter groups will respond
(CNN) — After months of infighting within the Pakistan Taliban, a major faction of the deadly militant group has apparently had enough.
The Mehsud faction has announced it’s parting ways with the central leadership of the group, known formally as the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), over ideological differences.
The breakaway faction had made attempts to convince the TTP to give up what it said were “un-Islamic” practices, such as attacks in public places, extortion, and kidnappings, and decided to separate from the banned terrorist outfit after these attempts failed, a spokesperson for the newly-formed faction, Azam Tariq, said in a statement released to the media last week.
It’s the first split since the TTP — a coalition of militant groups — was founded in 2007, seeking to establish its version of sharia law across Pakistan.
Analysts say the move has major implications for alliances among Islamist groups in the region but there’s no guarantee it will lead to less violence.
The breakaway faction will be led by Khalid Mehsud — also known as Khan Syed Sajna — a TTP commander based in South Waziristan, near Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan, Tariq said.
It’s believed Mehsud will command as many as 2,600 tribesmen, representing around half of the TTP’s forces, although the exact number is hard to determine due to the many smaller splinter groups with changing names and allegiances in other parts of the country, according to Raza Rumi, Senior Fellow at the Jinnah Institute, a Pakistani think tank and consulting editor at
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