A war of words erupted in Pakistan’s tribal belt on Thursday as pro-government tribal commanders fired verbal salvoes against the embattled Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud while the army pressed ahead with its plans to invade his South Waziristan lair.
Qari Zainuddin, a fellow Mehsud tribesmen who has risen from obscurity in recent months, accused the warlord of being an Indian and Israeli agent.
“He is working against Islam,” he told Geo television.
Another commander, Turkistan Bhittani, launched a more fanciful slur - that Baitullah, who has a US$5 million US government bounty on his head, is in the secret employ of Washington.
The comments underscored the tangled web of jihadi politics and personalities facing Pakistan’s army as it prepares for a battle that could determine the future of Pakistan. They came as missiles fired from what is thought to have been a US drone were reported to have killed nine militants in South Waziristan.
Mehsud, the leader of Pakistan’s largest Taliban grouping, has become the country’s top hate figure for launching suicide attacks and allegedly orchestrating the assassination of former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto in 2007.
His mountainous stronghold is also home to hundreds of al-Qaeda fighters, possibly including Osama bin Laden, although most experts believe he is hiding further north in the tribal belt.
Fresh from its success in Swat, where the Taliban have been driven from the main towns, the Pakistani army hopes to isolate Mehsud in South Waziristan through a combination of military strikes and alliances with friendly tribal commanders.
The newly aggressive approach has won generous praise from a previously sceptical US government. But while tribal allies such as Zainuddin oppose Mehsud, they also support al-Qaeda and fight Western troops in Afghanistan.
“We have reservations that this is going to work,” said a senior Western diplomat in Islamabad.
The operation has unofficially started, with troops imposing an economic blockade on Mehsud territory, sealing off approach roads and rounding up supporters. Helicopters and warplanes have pounded targets in Janni Khel district on the fringe of Waziristan.
Anwar Kamal Marwat, a tribal leader from the nearby district of Lakki Marwat, witnessed the violence.
“There was no hand to hand fighting. It was all artillery and air attacks,” he said.
Women and children fleeing the fighting had been permitted to shelter in his area, a traditional courtesy in tribal warfare.
The Mehsud campaign is likely to be far tougher, and bloodier, than the six-week Swat operation.
“It will be long, and too many people will die on both sides,” said Sailab Mehsud, a veteran local journalist.
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