The Pakistan government announced rewards worth $5 million for information leading to the capture, dead or alive, of Pakistan Taleban leader Hakimullah Mehsud and 18 other militants. Hakimullah leads a disparate group of militants in South Waziristan, near the Afghan border, which has become the focus of a major offensive by the Pakistan army. The militants have retaliated by staging bloody bomb and commando-style attacks on urban targets. A $600,000 bounty each was offered for Hakimullah and his two top aides, Wali-ur-Rehman and Qari Hussain Mehsud. Following are some facts about the trio: Hakimullah Mehsud Regarded as brutal, Hakimullah became overall head of Tehrik-e-Taleban Pakistan, (Taleban Movement of Pakistan) in August after the death of his predecessor, Baitullah Mehsud, in a missile strike by a CIA-operated drone. Pakistan said Hakimullah had been killed in a shootout with Wali-ur-Rehman over a dispute over who should lead the Taleban, but it proved false and the pair, along with Rehman, surfaced before a group of journalists in Sararogha last month. Before his elevation as Taleban head, Hakimullah was commander of about 8,000 militants in the Kurram, Orakzai and Khyber ethnic Pashtun tribal regions. Believed to be in his 30s, Hakimullah is considered more violent and aggressive than Mehsud, but also quite media savvy. He has vowed to take revenge for Mehsud's killing. Hakimullah claimed responsibility for a daring suicide attack on Peshawar's Pearl Continental hotel in June that killed seven people, including two UN workers. His fighters regularly ambush trucks taking supplies through the Khyber Pass to Afghan government and Western forces across the border. He works closely with Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, a militant group linked to al Qaeda that has its roots in central Punjab province. Wali-ur-Rehman A former teacher, Rehman is believed to be the same age as Hakimullah but variously described by local media as more “sober, wise and experienced”. He was a senior leader and spokesman for the Taleban and considered to be a contender for the supreme leadership after Mehsud's death. Instead, he became commander of militants in South Waziristan as part of a power-sharing deal with Hakimullah -an appointment some analysts say means he retains major influence. Qari Hussain Mehsud Hussain, a cousin of Hakimullah, is commonly known as “Ustad-e-Fidayeen” or “the mentor of suicide bombers”. He was believed be running a number of training camps for suicide bombers in his home town of Kotkai in South Waziristan which was captured by the security forces this month.
