Maulvi Nazir

Nazir was a member of the Kakakhel tribe, which have Sayyid origins and are a part of the Ahmadzai, which are part of the Wazir. He was estimated to have been born in 1975. He had citizenship of both Afghanistan and Pakistan, and owned property in Kandahar until 2010.{{cite news|url=http://www.jamestown.org/single/?no_cache=1&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=4147|title=South Waziristan's Maulvi Nazir: The New Face of the Taliban|volume=5|issue=9|publisher=The Jamestown Foundation|author=Hassan Abbas|date=14 May 2007

|access-date=27 March 2009}} During the Soviet–Afghan War and ensuing Afghan civil wars, he was affiliated with Hezbe Islami Gulbuddin. He later joined the Taliban and aligned himself politically with the JUI party of Fazal-ur-Rehman.{{cite news |author=Hassan Abbas |date=14 May 2007 |title=South Waziristan's Maulvi Nazir: The New Face of the Taliban |url=http://www.jamestown.org/single/?no_cache=1&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=4147 |access-date=27 March 2009 |publisher=The Jamestown Foundation |volume=5 |issue=9}} In Pakistan, he controlled large portions of South Waziristan, and maintained his influence in the Afghan provinces of Paktika, Zabul, Helmand, and Kandahar.

With the notable approval of Mullah Dadullah and Sirajuddin Haqqani, Maulvi Nazir was authorised to implement Sharia in South Waziristan in 2006, and the Afghan Taliban had instructed him to avoid confrontations with the Pakistani army.

Maulvi Nazir eventually overthrew Maulvi Omar and became the leader of the Taliban in Wana. Maulvi Omar was close to Baitullah Mehsud, a rival of Maulvi Nazir. Throughout his conflict with Baitullah Mehsud, Maulvi Nazir was supported by the Afghan Taliban, who opposed Baitullah Mehsud due to his attacks on Pakistan.German Jihad: On the Internationalization of Islamist Terrorism, Guido Steinberg, 2013, pp. 193Ordering Violence: Explaining Armed Group-State Relations from Conflict to Cooperation, Paul Staniland, 2021, pp. 194 In 2006, Mullah Omar endorsed Maulvi Nazir as the emir of South Waziristan.Talibanistan: Negotiating the Borders Between Terror, Politics, and Religion, 2013, pp. 184-185

In the Graveyard of Empires: America's War in Afghanistan, Seth G. Jones, 2010, pp. 262Jihadism in Pakistan: Al-Qaeda, Islamic State and the Local Militants, Antonio Giustozzi, 2023, pp. 67-68 Mullah Omar later disassociated himself from Baitullah Mehsud after he continued to attack Pakistan.Pakistan: Terrorism Ground Zero, Rohan Gunaratna, Khuram Iqbal, 2011, pp. 83

In March 2007, Maulvi Nazir ordered the expulsion of all Uzbeks from Waziristan, and sparked the 2007 Wana clashes against the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) led by Tahir Yuldashev. Maulvi Nazir later succeeded in expelling the Uzbeks.

Tensions continued between Maulvi Nazir and Baitullah Mehsud. In early 2009, Mullah Omar asked Maulvi Nazir and Baitullah Mehsud to put aside differences and aid the Afghan Taliban in combating the American presence in Afghanistan.{{cite news |author=Carlotta Gall, Ismail Khan, Pir Zubair Shah and Taimoor Shah |date=26 March 2009 |title=Pakistani and Afghan Taliban Unify in Face of U.S. Influx |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/27/world/asia/27taliban.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090401223858/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/27/world/asia/27taliban.html |archive-date=1 April 2009 |access-date=27 March 2009 |work=The New York Times}} Maulvi Nazir, Baitullah Mehsud, and Hafiz Gul Bahadur agreed to form Shura Ittihad ul-Mujahideen to focus on fighting NATO in Afghanistan. Shortly after the establishment of the union, tensions resurged between Baitullah Mehsud and Maulvi Nazir, and the union collapsed. Baitullah Mehsud was later killed on August 5, 2009.{{cite journal |last=Fair |first=C. Christine |date=January 2011 |title=The Militant Challenge in Pakistan |url=http://www.nbr.org/publications/asia_policy/AP11/AP11_F_MilitantPakistan.pdf |url-status=live |journal=Asia Policy |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=105–37 |doi=10.1353/asp.2011.0010 |s2cid=155007730 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110609014558/http://www.nbr.org/publications/asia_policy/AP11/AP11_F_MilitantPakistan.pdf |archive-date=9 June 2011 |access-date=17 February 2011}}{{cite news |last=Roggio |first=Bill |date=16 August 2009 |title=South Waziristan Taliban Groups Clash |url=http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2009/08/south_waziristan_tal.php |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090819063017/http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2009/08/south_waziristan_tal.php |archive-date=19 August 2009 |access-date=26 August 2009 |publisher=The Long War Journal}}

The tensions between Maulvi Nazir and the mainstream TTP continued until a peace deal between Maulvi Nazir and Hakimullah Mehsud was reached in 2011.Talibanistan: Negotiating the Borders Between Terror, Politics, and Religion, 2013, pp. 189

Maulvi Nazir was killed by an American drone strike on 2 January 2013 in Angur Ada, near the capital of Wana, South Waziristan.{{cite web|title=Mullah Nazir killed in US drone attack|url=http://paknews.pk/5895/mullah-nazir-killed-in-us-drone-attack.html|publisher=Pak News|access-date=3 January 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140715015814/http://paknews.pk/5895/mullah-nazir-killed-in-us-drone-attack.html/|archive-date=15 July 2014}}{{cite web|title=Pakistan: Drone Strike Kills Militant Mullah Nazir|date=3 January 2013 |url=http://descrier.co.uk/world/2013/01/pakistan-drone-strike-kills-militant-mullah-nazir/|publisher=The Descrier|access-date=3 January 2013}} Bahawal Khan, also known as Salahuddin Ayubi, was his successor.[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-20909841 Bahawal Khan to succeed Pakistan militant leader Mullah Nazir], BBC, 4 January 2013

{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nazir, Maulvi}}

Category:Taliban leaders

Category:1975 births

Category:2013 deaths

Category:Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan members

Category:Pashtun people

Category:Pakistani people of Afghan descent

Category:Afghan people of Pakistani descent

Category:Deaths by American drone strikes in Pakistan