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‘Mohmand Agency now under Taliban’s control’

* Residents say Khalid most influential Taliban leader after Baitullah Mehsud, Maulvi Faqir
* Officials say Khalid’s group usually engages US forces in Afghanistan’s Kunar province

By Iqbal Khattak

PESHAWAR: The Mohmand Agency has come under the “complete control” of Umar Khalid after he eliminated another jihadi organisation operating in the area, local residents told Daily Times.

Khalid, a Safi tribesman who is commanding the Taliban in a very strategic tribal district, took “greater control” of Mohmand following a bloody campaign against the Shah Sahib militant group, whose chief and deputy chief were among eight killed on Friday. “He (Umar Khalid) is the strongest and most influential Taliban leader after Baitullah Mehsud and Maulvi Faqir,” residents told Daily Times by phone from Ghalanai.

A member of the militant group, following a meeting with Umar Khalid, said that there was now less likelihood that a fact-finding team sent from Baitullah Mehsud would penalise Khalid for his July 18 actions against the Shah Sahib group.

People from the banned militant organisation Lashkar-e-Tayyaba had originally led the group. “Any group not showing allegiance to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan will not be tolerated in the Mohmand Agency,” Khalid had told reporters in his first press conference after taking over the headquarters of the rival jihadi outfit.

According to his close associates, Umar Khalid is a “born jihadi” who has glorified the fight against ‘infidels’ through his poetry. “His poetry is all about jihad,” they added. Formerly a journalist, Khalid worked for pro-jihad publications Zarb-e-Momin and the daily Islam in the 1990s before he joined the “freedom struggle” of the Kashmiri people against Indian rule of occupied Kashmir. His affiliation with the two publications also earned him membership of the Ghalanai Press Club, local journalists said, adding that this membership was revoked after he became involved in militant activities.

Umar Khalid, who is currently in his early 40s, was the Harkatul Mujahideen chief in the Mohmand Agency before becoming a Taliban commander. According to his associates, his journey towards extremism began with a journey to Azad Jammu and Kashmir. “He was in Muzaffarabad on personal business when Azad Jammu and Kashmir jihadis contacted him. Since then Khalid’s sole concern has been jihad,” they told Daily Times by phone.

Against the US: According to Ghalanai administration officials, the Khalid-led group usually engages American forces in the eastern Afghan province of Kunar. They said that he closely co-ordinates with Maulvi Faqir, the Taliban chief of the neighbouring Bajaur tribal region. However, they added, Khalid “does not host foreign militants” in Mohmand like Faqir. Khalid claims that some 26,000 trained militants operate under his command. However, the figures are difficult to verify and people say they might be ‘exaggerated’. Sources say that local elders believe that Khalid is getting too strong and someone has to keep him “under control”.

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