Adnan Rasheed set his sights on the military
Former Pakistan Air Force technician, Adnan Rasheed (35) now a Senior Taliban Commander has allegedly risen from the dead (if you believe the many accounts of his death) just in time for Tehreek -e-Taliban (TTP) Spring offensive. Photos of the militant leader who is now in charge of Taliban Special Group (TSG) were circulating on social media on Monday evening.
Rasheed with his Taliban Special Group (TSG)
Rasheed who originates from Chota Lahor village, Swabi district was sentenced to death for the attack on former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf in 2004. The militant leader (who seems to have more lives than his former prison cat) was incarcerated at Bannu prison and later freed along with 400 inmates when militants stormed the complex in 2012. He was also the mastermind of the 2013 Dera Ismail Khan jailbreak in which over 170 prisoners escaped. Rasheed became known to the west after penning a letter to schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai shot by the Taliban whilst he was incarcerated, see
Letter to Malala from TTP militant Adnan Rasheed
https://activist1.wordpress.com/2013/07/17/letter-to-malala-from-ttp-militant-adnan-rasheed-3/
The military have made several unsuccessful attempts on his life. Rasheed wrote an article stating,
“the Pakistan Air Force claimed that they targeted my house on January 20, 2014. By the Grace of Allah, I and my family are safe. However, the bombing killed four innocent civilians. They were Maryam (4 years old), her mother Ayesha (24 years old), her grandmother (80 years old) and her uncle Bakhtullah (17 years old). A young boy Shahzeb (7 years old) and his sister (14 years old) were taken to Peshawar for treatment; they had sustained burns and broken bones. The symbol of shame, Pakistan Air Force, killed innocent civilians of the Mehsud tribe in an attempt to kill me along with my wife, two year old daughter and infant son.”
On 16th July 2014, DAWN media reported that Rasheed had been captured during military operation Zarb-e-Asb, claiming,
“highly placed intelligence sources told Dawn.com on Tuesday that the firebrand Taliban commander was arrested by the forces in Shakai valley of South Waziristan four days ago in injured condition after he tried to escape from North Waziristan’s cordoned off area due to the military operation.
He has been shifted to an undisclosed location by a helicopter, they added.”
This turned out to be yet another false alarm.
This week, April 13th, 2015, leaflets were allegedly being distributed in Gomal D.I. Khan in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province of Pakistan warning Pakistanis to take notice of the following,
“stay away from Central jail vicinities, army posts, civilians living inside cantt (cantonment) areas should move off!!”
On Twitter, “Mahsudee Witness” who has a photo of Rasheed as his profile picture tweeted the following,
“Large number of TTP troops arrived at Gomal area, circumstances are tense. Adnan Rasheed new media footages along with strict message!!!
Local sources claims the Pakistan military forces has withdrawn from key positions in Khyber agency in past two days. FATA
I do not expect surprises from TTP in near future bt yeah thy r utmost furious over 36+ extrajudicially killing in a week”
Rasheed has released a series of videos. The content includes threatening the life of Musharraf, discussing the welfare of prisoners and most recently delivering a message to the Armed Forces, criticising Pakistan’s military history and subservience under colonialism when part of India and more recently doing the bidding of America, a slave to US dollars. He encouraged members of the military to “Repent Revise and Revolt” and take up arms with TTP to fight for an Islamic State implementing sharia law for the people of Pakistan. Rasheed stated,
“regretfully, regretfully, I was one of you. I joined the air force with a great zeal to serve the citizens of Islam but soon realized this military is out of ethics… What to talk about religion. I found there no Iman ( belief, faith in Allah) no taqwa (piety, being enlightened) and no jihad fisabilillah (struggle, striving in the way of Allah).”
He went on to say,
“in the past you fought for kuffars (non -believers). In the present you are fighting for kuffars and in the future, you will be in front line armies of Dajjal (false Messiah) if you would not repent. You invoke the anger of this nation by implementing martial law many times in this country. I wish you had ever implemented Shari’ah but rather than implementing Shari’ah you proved to be the biggest hurdle.”
Link
“Pakistan’s new most wanted: A short sketch of Adnan Rasheed”
“Taliban commander Adnan Rasheed advises Pakistan’s Armed Forces to “Repent, Revise and Revolt”
“Adnan Rasheed responds to Defence Pk video, criticizes armed services for allegedly deviating from Islam”
Carol Anne Grayson is an independent writer/researcher on global health/human rights/WOT and is Executive Producer of the Oscar nominated, Incident in New Baghdad. She is a Registered Mental Nurse with a Masters in Gender Culture and Development. Carol was awarded the ESRC, Michael Young Prize for Research 2009, and the COTT ‘Action = Life’ Human Rights Award’ for “upholding truth and justice”. She is also a survivor of US “collateral damage”.
Carol Anne Grayson (Radical Sister) blog 