Pakistani Taliban: use suicide bombings more sparingly

The Pakistani Taliban released a guidebook giving fighters instructions on when to use suicide bombings, what to do with spies and resolving internal disputes, as the group tries to impose discipline and distance itself from ISIS.

The 12-page operations manual released last month in Urdu, and later in English, strives to “correct the direction” of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan movement after it fractured because of a tribal dispute and was driven into Afghanistan.

Experts on the group say the guidance reflected the rifts suffered by the Taliban and the challenge it faced from ISIS.

The manual stresses that suicide bombings, which it calls martyrdom operations, should be carried out only “on very important targets” and “not be wasted on worthless targets”.

It said that a centralised regional office to oversee the preparation and training for such attacks should be

established. Permission for bombings can only be given at the highest level and “if ever a martyrdom operation is carried out on an inappropriate target, then the brothers responsible for the attack shall be punished”.

Suicide bombs should also avoid killing and harming members of the public, the guidance says, despite the group’s attacks regularly killing civilians. Saifullah Mahsud of the Fata Research Centre said he was sceptical that the guidelines would prevent civilian casualties.

“Writing it on paper is one thing but carrying out these attacks, there’s always been a huge amount of collateral damage,” Mr Mahsud said.

The manual also spells out how to divide war spoils. Four fifths are to be divided among the fighters and the rest handed to central leadership.

As for spies and enemy prisoners, it says confessions extracted under torture are to be considered suspect.

The group has new leadership, with Mufti Noor Wali Mehsud taking charge in June after Mullah Fazlullah was killed by a US drone strike.

The guidance tells fighters that the group should narrow its focus to fewer enemies. It also contains extensive guidance on how bands of Pakistani Taliban fighters should work together.

Militancy experts said the document reflected the reality for the group, which is weakened and fragmented after being driven from Pakistan’s border areas by the army.

Tore Hamming, a militancy researcher at the European University Institute, said the group had been advised to change its behaviour by Al Qaeda allies and the document was influenced by the terrorist group.

“It has consistently been affected by internal divisions, which on occasions have led to organisational fragmentation when factions have left the main group, only to return later,” he said.

The Pakistani Taliban has also been badly hit by the emergence of ISIS in the region, with fighters and senior figures defecting to it.

The manual states it is “necessary for the mujahideen to reduce the number of war fronts and enemies”.

“It’s important that they have put that on paper but there’s always been this debate ... about legitimacy,” Mr Mahsud said. “There have always been voices saying it might not be in the interests of the groups that targets are not chosen carefully.”

Mr Mehsud is considered better educated than his predecessor. He is a religious scholar and has written a history of Mahsud tribe militants from South Waziristan.

“He likes to write and he’s got a book to his name,” Mr Mahsud said. “This is an attempt by him to put everything on paper and to reorganise.”