Noor Wali Mehsud: UN-listed TTP chief at the heart of Afghan-Pak tensions

Pakistani security officials said that an airstrike on October 9 in Kabul targeted an armoured vehicle believed to be carrying Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) leader Noor Wali Mehsud.

The strike was followed by several days of cross-border clashes before an uneasy ceasefire, deepening a fraught security standoff between Islamabad and the Afghan Taliban authorities. Noor Wali Mehsud, also known as Mufti Noor Wali Mehsud and Abu Zar Azzam, is listed under the United Nations Security Council’s ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions List. He was appointed leader of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in June 2018 following the death of the group’s previous chief, Maulana Fazlullah.

According to the United Nations’ listing, the TTP under Mehsud’s leadership has been responsible for numerous attacks inside Pakistan, targeting security personnel, government installations, and civilian areas. The TTP is said to be maintaining links with Al-Qaeda and operates in coordination with several other regional terrorist organisations. The group has been accused of orchestrating cross-border attacks from bases situated in eastern Afghanistan.

The UN narrative summary records that, as of November 26, 2022, Mehsud was located in Lamman, District Barmal, Paktika Province, Afghanistan, and that he was listed pursuant to United Nations Security Council resolutions for participating in the financing, planning, facilitating, or perpetrating of acts or activities in support of Al-Qaeda and associated entities.