Pakistani Government Posts Bounties On Baitullah Mehsud and Ten Other Taliban/Al Qaeda Leaders

This is significant. The Pakistani government today placed an advertisement in Pakistani newspapers that announced monetary bounties on the capture or death of Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud and ten other Taliban leaders. This is coming from a government that just six months ago was on its knees making peace agreements with these animals and over a year ago, totally ignored Mehsud's role in the assassination of Bhutto. Actually this is a brilliant move by the Pakistanis in that the Taliban have never had lower support among the tribes in the NW Provinces and who knows, the tips might just come flooding in. Here's the list of the bounties from the article at The Long War Journal:

The bounties and their targets

$615,000 Bounty:
Baitullah Mehsud is the overall leader of the Pakistani Taliban. He has led a campaign of suicide and military attacks against the Pakistani military, government, and civilians for more than two years. His forces have defeated the Pakistani Army during two offensives in South Waziristan since 2007.

$181,000 Bounty:
Faqir Mohammed is a senior deputy to Baitullah and leads the Taliban in Bajaur. His forces have defeated the Pakistani Army in Bajaur in two offensives in 2008 and fought the military to a stalemate earleir this year. He is a close ally to Ayman al Zawahiri and Bajaur serves as an al Qaeda command and control center for operations in northeastern Afghanistan.

$123,000 Bounty:
Hakeemullah Mehsud is a senior deputy in Baitullah Mehsud's Pakistani Taliban movement, and is a candidate to be his successor. He commands Taliban forces in Arakzai, Kurram, and Khyber agencies. He has taken credit for several high profile terror attacks in Lahore, Peshawar, and in other major cities.

Qari Hussain Mehsud is Baitullah’s deputy and cousin. He runs suicide training camps for children in Spinkai in South Waziristan. The military destroyed one of these camps during a brief operation in January 2008 but Qari reopened the camp months later. He is considered a candidate to take over the Pakistani Taliban in the event of Baitullah's death.

Commander Tariq Afridi leads the Commander Tariq group. He is a deputy to Hakeemullah and leads what is considered the most powerful force in the city of Darra Adam Khel. His group was behind the kidnapping and the eventual beheading of a Polish engineer earlier this year.

Omar Khalid, who is also known as Abdul Wali, leads the Taliban in Mohmand. He is a deputy of Baitullah Mehsud's Taliban movement. He is considered one of the most effective and powerful leaders in the tribal areas after Baitullah and Hakeemullah Mehsud.

Qari Shakeel is a deputy commander to Omar Khalid in the Mohmand tribal agency.

$61,500 Bounty:
Qari Zia Rahman is an al Qaeda leader who operates in Pakistan’s Bajaur tribal agency as well as in Afghanistan’s Nuristan and Kunar provinces. He is allied with Faqir Mohammed, the leader of the Taliban in Bajaur, as well as overall Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud and Osama bin Laden. Rahman's fighters are from Chechnya, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and various Arab nations. He commands a brigade in al Qaeda's paramilitary Shadow Army, or the Lashkar al Zil, US intelligence officials have told The Long War Journal.

Waliur Rahman is a deputy military commander to Faqi Mohammed in Bajaur. He leads the Jaish-i-Islami Pakistan, a Taliban subgroup. He has led negotiations with the tribes and also is reported to have been named as a possible successor to Baitullah.

Fazal Saeed Utezai is a deputy to Hakeemullah and leads Taliban fighters in the Kurram tribal agency. His forces have been behind some of the worst sectarian violence against the Shia tribes.
Mufti Ilyas commands Taliban forces of Darra Adam Khel and is a deputy to Hakeemullah Mehsud.

This really does throw down the gauntlet in all of the NW Provinces and it will be amazing to see the reaction of the Taliban and al Qaeda over this - knowing Mehsud, he will strike quickly after seeing this. My prediction is that you will see probably three or four suicide bombing attacks in Pakistani cities this upcoming week and more than likely there will be a call out to capture as many Pakistani troops as possible for either some huge ransom plea or a public decapitation ceremony.

The Taliban leadership can't be sitting too comfortable today...and there is the possibility that some "moves" might be planned for the leadership to some more obscure provinces.