Rifts surface in Pak Taliban

Peshawar, Nov 28 : Rifts seem to be appearing in the ranks of the Pakistan unit of the Taliban, the Tehrek-e-Taliban (TTP), as one of the rival factions that the group led by Baitullah Mehsud was "misusing Islam to prolong its terror reign". It branded the TTP chief's activities as "militancy".

Commander Qari Zainuddin Mehsud, who is loyal to slain Taliban leader Abdullah Mehsud, said this.

In pamphlets written in Urdu and distributed in Tank city on Thursday, Zainuddin Mehsud, chief of the Abdullah Mehsud group, charged Baitullah with the killings of 'jihadi leaders'.

Qari Zainuddin parted ways with Baitullah following Abdullah's killing in July 2007 in Balochistan's Zhob district, and both sides killed each other's men, reported the Daily Times.

Sources claimed that the TTP was suffering from internal bickering that had been made public by the distribution of the pamphlets.

"All that Baitullah is doing in the name of Islam is not Islamic ... this is militancy," the pamphlets read and also urged clerics to speak out against Baitullah.

ANI