PUKHTOONS

The Waziris are a Pashtun tribe whose home spans the Pakistan/Afghanistan border. The Mahsud are one of the four sub-tribes of the Waziri.

Mehsud entered into a ceasefire with Pakistani authorities on February 8, 2005.^[3][4][5] Mehsud was offered $20 million USD for his cooperation in the ceasefire.^[6] Some Taliban leaders had claimed they needed the money because they owed al Qaeda money, and couldn't disengage from hostilities unless the debt was repaid. Mehsud however told Pakistani authorities that they should use his share of the pay-out to "compensate families who had suffered during the military operation".

Preliminary investigations concerning the September 2007 bombings in Rawalpindi note that Mehsud is the primary suspect behind the attacks.^[7] A December 18, 2005 report stated that Baitullah Mehsud, Abdullah Mehsud and Yaldeshev were the subject of a man-hunt.^[8] Authorities said they believed that the militants were short of ammunition and would be captured soon.

A March 10, 2006 report asserts that Mehsud collects a kind of tax in Waziristan.^[9] The report quotes an official in the Northwest Frontier Constabulary:

Baitullah's lashkar (army) is very organised. He has divided it into various units and assigned particular tasks to each unit. One of the units been tasked to kill people who are pro-government and pro-US and support the US occupation of Afghanistan. The last person to be killed was Malik Arsallah Khan, chief of the Khuniakhel Wazir tribe, who was killed on February 22 in Wana (in South Waziristan).

The Ariana Afghanistan WorldWide Broadcasting reported on June 23, 2006 that the Waziri tribes allied with the Taliban were negotiating another ceasefire with Pakistani forces.^[10] The article said Baitullah Mehsud "has been chosen to continue to be the head of militants from Mehsud tribe." His growing influence in South Waziristan have led some to label him as "South Waziristan's Unofficial Amir".^[11]

In February 2008, Mehsud announced that he had agreed to another ceasefire with the government of Pakistan. The Pakistani military has officially claimed that military operations against Mehsud are continuing. The The New York Times, however, reports that anonymous high-level officials in the Pakistani government confirmed the deal.^[12]