The infighting between Taliban factions has gained momentum at such a time when the peace parley between the government and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan is entering a decisive phase while the residents fear a wide scale disturbance in case the clashes spill over to other parts of South Waziristan Agency and settled Tank area.

The clashes between two groups of the Mehsud chapter of Pakistani Taliban have now spilled over to Tank, neighboring South Waziristan, where tribal elders have expressed concern that it would not only delay the peace process but would also affect the security situation in the area.

Differences between the TTP factions led by Hakimullah Mehusd and Waliur Rehman emerged after Baitullah Mehsud was killed in a drone strike in August 2009. They were compelled to reconcile when the Taliban Shura made Hakimullah the new Amir with Waliur Rehman as his deputy. The split resurfaced when Waliur Rehman was killed in a drone strike in May 2013, and his followers appointed Khan Said Sajna to replace him, without consulting Hakimullah. Hakimullah appointed his own man Latif Mehsud as the deputy head of the TTP, after he had developed serious differences with Sajna. Latif was arrested by US troops from the Logar province of Afghanistan on October 5, 2013.

“Militants loyal to Hakimullah have formed a new group to counter the faction led by Sajna while Ihsanullah alias Warghoomkay, a Karachi-based commander of TTP and was loyal to Hakimullah, has set up a new faction of TTP in Tank district and Frontier Region Tank.

Militants belonging to the new group have distributed pamphlets in Gomal, Sarang Zona and other Mehsud areas of Tank and some parts of Frontier Region Jandola asking locals to resolve mutual issues through the ‘mujahedeen’ which aimed to counter the activities of Sajna group in South Waiziristan.

The Mehsud faction of Taliban in Karachi also split into two groups - one loyal to TTP’s former chief Hakimullah, while the other loyal to TTP South Waziristan chief Sajna group.

The latest incidents of bloodshed erupted from two separate incidents. The first of them took place in the Shawal area of the South Waziristan, where four militants of the Sajna group got killed when their vehicle came under a rocket attack in the mountainous area of Pak-Afghan border. In the second incident, unknown militants - probably belonging to Sajna group, opened indiscriminate fire at a group of persons in a hotel in Gomal Zam area of District Tank and killed them on the spot.

Local sources said that a total of 35 people have been killed in clashes that erupted on Sunday last between the supporters of Sajna and followers of the late Hakimullah Mehsud group. Both the factions are part of the TTP umbrella group, which is waging a bloody insurgency against the state for the last seven years.

Due to remoteness of the area, the local media express its inability to confirm exact number of casualties but the total figure would not be more than 35. In a pamphlet issued by the TTP Tank leadership says that some elements posing as fake TTP and threatening the people living in Tank and Gomal areas are not associated with the TTP movement, and local residents should complain at the given telephone numbers.

When contacted about the reasons of these clashes, Brigadier (r) Syed Nazir told this scribe that the main reason behind these clashes is their decentralized structure. He said that there is not single chain of command like army between these militant groups and they get split whenever differences arise on any issue.

It is not for the first time as in the past media had reported clashes between these militant organizations. Sometimes foreign agencies and other groups also take advantage of the situation to indulge them in fighting for gaining political objectives.

Regarding the repercussion on the ongoing peace parleys, the retired Brigadier said that the fighting leaders are not members of the committee and Taliban Shura but resolving these differences may delay the peace process.