Mufti Noor Mehsud

Noor Wali Mehsud (born 26 June 1978), also known by his nom de guerre Abu Mansur Asim, is a Pakistani militant who has been serving as the fourth emir of the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) since 2018. On 22 June 2018, Mehsud was named the emir of the TTP after the former emir, Mullah Fazlullah, was killed in a US drone strike in Kunar, Afghanistan. Despite this, since Mehsud's rule, the TTP appears to have "grown deadlier." Mehsud steered the TTP in a new direction, sparing civilians and ordering assaults only on security and law enforcement personnel, in an attempt to rehabilitate the group's image and distance them from the Islamic State – Khorasan Province (Daesh–Khorasan) militant group's extremism.

The US classified Mehsud as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist on 10 September 2019. In July 2020, Mehsud was included on the ISIL and Al-Qaeda Sanctions Committee list by the United Nations.

Although some sources reported his assassination in October 2025, the TTP released an voice note from Mehsud where he stated that he was still alive. On 17 October 2025, the TTP released also released a video reportedly filmed in Khyber Agency, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, as a "proof of life" for its leader, Noor Wali Mehsud. In the footage, Mehsud appears in person to confirm he is alive and directly addresses recent reports—and alleged airstrikes—that claimed to have killed him.

Early life

Family background Noor Wali Mehsud was born on 26 June 1978 in a village in the Tiarza Subdivision of the South Waziristan region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He hails from the Mechikhel sub-clan of the Mehsud tribe, a Pashtun tribe native to the Sararogha Subdivision of the South Waziristan region.

Religious education and Afghan Civil War Noor Wali Mehsud received a rudimentary education at Madrisa Siddiqia Ospas. Throughout the 1990s, Mehsud studied on and off at madrasas Jamia Imdadia, Jamia Haleemia and Jamia Farooq-e-Azam in Faisalabad, Jamia Nusratul Uloom in Gujranwala, and Jamia Ahsan-ul-Uloom and Jamia Yaseenul Quran in Karachi. Despite the efforts of foreign jihadists, the Taliban government was overthrown by US and Northern Alliance forces in December 2001, prompting Mufti Noor Wali Mehsud to retreat across the border into Pakistan, along with droves of Afghan Taliban, Al-Qaeda, and other jihadist fighters. This move was considered an unprecedented violation of the tribes's sovereignty and was condemned by many parties across Pakistan. Throughout 2002–2003, Pakistan began to intensify their military presence and began launching counter-terrorism operations within the FATA, only to be met by more condemnation and suspicion by various local tribes and political parties. In addition, the local Pashtun tribes began to feel that they were being subjugated by the Pakistani military. Not only was their military presence a violation of their sovereignty, but according to Mufti Noor Wali Mehsud, Pakistan's demand for the release of the jihadists whom they sheltered would be a violation of the principle of melmastia (hospitality), a major component of Pashtunwali (Pashtun tribal code). In this battle, Mufti Noor Wali Mehsud lead local Taliban fighters in an ambush of the Pakistani army in Tayar Manza. On 29 December, Maulvi Omar, official spokesperson of Baitullah Mehsud released a statement denying involvement in Benazir Bhutto's assassination saying, "I strongly deny it. Tribal people have their own customs. We don't strike women." At the same time, the Pakistani government released the transcript from an intercepted phone call between TTP members Maulvi Sahib "Mister cleric" and Baitullah Mehsud in which Maulvi Sahib claimed responsibility for the attack, saying "They were our men there" and that "There were Saeed, the second was Badarwala Bilal and Ikramullah was also there." Maulvi Sahib clarified that Ikramullah and Badarwala Bilal did it, before being congratulated by Baitullah Mehsud and agreeing to meet in Makin at "Anwar Shah's house."

No one openly claimed responsibility for the assassination of Bhutto until 2017, when Mufti Noor Wali Mehsud, in his book, took credit for carrying out the assassination. Mufti Noor Wali Mehsud explained that Benazir Bhutto "allegedly planned to collaborate with the US against the mujahideen if she returned to power," and that the Bhutto's return was "planned at the behest of the Americans as they had given her a plan against the Mujahideed-e-Islam. Baitullah had received information of the plan." Noor Wali also served as the head of the TTP's publication/media wing. In June 2013, Mufti Noor Wali Mehsud was appointed head of the TTP's Karachi chapter to ensure the TTP's continued growth in Karachi. In this position, he oversaw the extortion and kidnapping of many of Karachi's residents, bank robberies, and assassinations for money to fund the TTP's operations. Noor Wali lead the TTP's Karachi chapter remotely from Miramshah, a traditional TTP stronghold, rarely visiting Karachi in person. Noor Wali remained the head of the TTP's Karachi franchise until May 2015. The claim was proven false after CNN published a video interview with Mehsud on 26 July 2021.

Beliefs and Writings A religious scholar and trained mufti, Noor Wali Mehsud was the head of TTP's publications department, Umar Media. His most notable written work was Inquilaab Mehsud South Waziristan: Farangi Raj se Ameriki Samraj tak, translated as The Mehsud Revolution in South Waziristan: From British Raj to Oppressive America, a 690-page book released in November 2017. This book detailed atrocities committed by the TTP and claimed the organisation was responsible for the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

Airstrikes

On 9 October 2025, Noor Wali Mehsud was targeted by an airstrike in Kabul, Afghanistan. Multiple sources confirmed the incident to Amu TV after residents reported explosions near Abdul Haq Square in central Kabul. The Taliban government of Afghanistan acknowledged the attacks and announced an investigation into the incident.

On 17 October 2025, the TTP released a video reportedly filmed in Khyber District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, as a "proof of life" for its leader, Noor Wali Mehsud. In the footage, Mehsud appears in person to confirm he is alive and directly addresses recent reports—and alleged airstrikes—that claimed to have killed him.