Newly released documents obtained from Osama bin Laden’s compound reveal that the Al Qaeda was sharply critical of the ideology and tactics of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan.
According to one of the 17 declassified documents captured in the Abbottabad raid and released to the Combating Terrorism Center (CTC), a letter was authored by Mahmud al-Hasan (Atiyya) and Abu Yahya al-Libi to the amir of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Hakimullah Mahsud dated 3 December 2010.
The letter makes it clear that al Qaeda’s senior leaders had serious concerns about the TTP’s trajectory inside Pakistan, and the impact the group’s misguided operations might have on al Qaeda and other militant groups in the region.
The authors identify several errors committed by the group, specifically Hakimullah Mehsud’s arrogation of privileges and positions beyond what was appropriate as the TTP’s amir; the TTP’s use of indiscriminate violence and killing of Muslim civilians; and the group’s use of kidnapping.
“Atiyya and al-Libi also take issue with Mehsud labeling al Qaeda members as “guests” and the attempts made by other groups (presumably the TTP) to siphon off al Qaeda members.
The authors threaten that if actions are not taken to correct these mistakes, “we shall be forced to take public and firm legal steps from our side.”
The documents, which were seized last year in a Navy SEAL team raid that killed bin Laden, show he was deeply troubled by terrorist attacks carried out by regional jihadist groups that caused Muslim civilian casualties.
