3RD PARTY BLOGGER

Eight South Waziristan Taliban commanders, pictured in a wanted poster: 1. Hakeemullah Mehsud, 2. Waliur Rehman Mehsud, 3. Qari Hussain Mehsud, 4. Azam Tariq, 5. Maulvi Azmatullah, 6. Mufti Noor Wali, 7. Asmatullah Bhittani, 8. Mohammad Anwar Gandapur.

Pakistani security forces recently detained a mid-level Taliban commander who was wanted by the government.

Abdullah Shah Mehsud, who was number 17 on the list of 20 most-wanted Taliban commanders from South Waziristan, was captured by Pakistani forces in the district of Tank. He is an “active member of Hakeemullah Mehsud Group from Shaktoi village near Razmak” in North Waziristan, the Pakistani military said in a press release. The military paid “head money,” a sum of about $120,000, to the informer who turned Abdullah Shah in.

Abdullah Shah Mehsud after his capture. Photo from Pakistan’s Inter-Services Public Relations website.

Abdullah Shah is the first senior Taliban leader in South Waziristan to be captured since the operation began on Oct. 17. Much of the Taliban leadership is believed to have slipped the military operation in South Waziristan and to be sheltering in North Waziristan, Arakzai, Kurram, Khyber, and in regions in South Waziristan not affected by the operation.