Internet Anthropologist Think Tank: NEW TALIBAN LEADER

The new replacement for the dead Hakimulla Mehsud,

...go down in the region's history as the man who forced Pakistan to admit the strong links between its own Taliban and the one in Afghanistan.

Hakimullah Mehsud may have issued his own death warrant earlier this month when he appeared on an Al-Jazeera video sitting beside Humam Khalil Abu Mulal al-Balawi. Balawi is believed to be the person behind attacks on the Central Intelligence Agency in Afghanistan. Shortly before the release of this video, he died while carrying out a suicide bombing, killing eight people.

That video confirmed what the Pakistani intelligence agencies had been denying for some time now: the all-important link between the Taliban in Afghanistan and the Pakistani Taliban. The United State's rhetoric is that both these entities are the same unless both the Taliban factions are dealt with accordingly the attacks on US interests in Afghanistan are not going to stop any time soon.

Maulvi Noor Jamal was seen in a video circulated this week and shown on a private television channel flogging two men and a teenage boy.

He was beating a boy to young to grow a beard, for not

growing a beard? And the boy is the only one he beat on the buttocks?

The other men were beaten on their backs, and they were allowed

to wear shirts? Maulvi beating of the boy seemed personal.

bacha bazi ?

The man overseeing the flogging is said to be Maulvi Noor Jamal, a native of the tribal area of Orakzai, who according to residents has assumed responsibilities as acting leader of the Pakistani Taliban.

“He kills humans like one will kill chickens,” said one resident who left Kurram last year because he was wanted by Mr. Noor Jamal’s forces. He and another resident spoke on the condition of anonymity because they feared retribution.

The region has a sizable Shiite minority, and last year Shiites were made to pay an Islamic tax, ostensibly to ensure their security, in order to be allowed to remain in Orakzai. The Shiites have been made a special target of brutality and violence by the Taliban, who follow a strict interpretation of Sunni Islam.
Three beheaded bodies were found Friday in lower Orakzai after the victims were abducted by suspected Taliban, according to a nearby resident.

Sourced form:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mahawish-rezvi/hakimullah-mehsuds-big-mi_b_449400.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/06/world/asia/06taliban.html
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/35261548#35261548