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TTP chief Noor Wali Mehsud said he has visual proof of his group’s control inside Pakistan. His reference to tribal belts in Khyber district highlights the TTP’s ground influence
The purported video by TTP chief Noor Wali Mehsud is from somewhere in the restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa district inside Pakistani territory. (Image: X)
Busting claims of his “elimination” made by Pakistan, TTP chief Noor Wali Mehsud appeared in a purported video alleging that Islamabad was running a “deliberate disinformation campaign”.
Noror Wali Mehsud said he has visual proof of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan’s (TTP) control inside Pakistan, and that the Pakistani military’s repeated claims of his elimination were part of a disinformation campaign.
According to sources, Pakistan’s claims were to project operational success under American pressure and to calm domestic criticism. The purported video by Mehsud is from somewhere in the restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa district inside Pakistani territory.
The sources told News18 that this confirms that the TTP retains de facto control of key tribal zones despite clearance operations, making Pakistan army’s narrative of regained sovereignty null and void. Mehsud’s direct reference to Kuki Khel and Qambar Khel tribal belts highlights the depth of the TTP’s ground influence near Peshawar’s gateway, they said.
They said him gesturing towards Pakistani Army posts in the video, visible on the ridge, signals a psychological victory. It shows the TTP’s ability to move and communicate openly in areas supposedly under military watch, they added.
This is a clear intelligence embarrassment for GHQ Rawalpindi, the headquarters of the Pakistani Army, the sources said. By appearing alive and within Pakistan, the TTP chief aims to humiliate Pakistan’s internal security establishment, they said.
He disproves military propaganda, rallying fragmented TTP factions under his command, they said. Pakistan seems to be losing territorial and narrative control simultaneously, with militant command networks consolidating deeper inside its own tribal corridor, they added.
WHAT IS IN THE VIDEO?
In this recently released video, Noor Wali Mehsud stated that he is alive and denied the reports by the Pakistani Army and media claiming that he was killed in a blast in Kabul on October 9.
Mehsud said this is all propaganda by the Pakistan, clarifying that he is not present in Afghanistan; instead, he is in the Khyber region and continues his work from there.
In the video, Mehsud urged his followers and Mujahideen to continue their jihad, not to be influenced by the propaganda of Pakistan’s “evil army”, and to keep fighting. He stressed on treating people well because they are the source of their strength.
He strongly rejected reports of his death, stating that claims of his presence in Afghanistan are a failed attempt by Pakistan. He reiterated that he is not in Afghanistan and that such claims are untrue.
WHAT DOES INDIAN INTELLIGENCE SAY?
Top Indian intelligence sources told News18 that Pakistani intelligence and ISPR deliberately circulated false claims about Noor Wali Mehsud’s death in an airstrike in Kabul.
The sources said they have done this to create an illusion of success before Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and western interlocutors. There was no forensic or ground confirmation of the so-called kill, they said.
They said Pakistani Army used bot networks and amplified that Mehsud was killed in a drone strike with stories across Urdu media and social platforms. Indian intelligence tracking digital signatures confirmed that over 70 percent of initial posts originated from ISPR-linked handles, they added.
This is identical to those used in previous fake Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and TTP narratives, the sources said. The death claim was timed to divert attention from the TTP’s territorial claims in Khyber and North Waziristan, where local militias have surrendered to militants, they said.
This propaganda was part of a broader deception plan to hide Pakistan army’s loss of control over the western tribal belt, they said. The second reason is the growing internal dissent within Frontier Corps ranks, they added.
WHO IS NOR WALL MEHSUD?
Noor Wali Mehsud took over the leadership of the TTP in 2018 after his three predecessors were killed by US drone strikes. By then, Pakistani army operations had largely driven the group out of their former strongholds and into Afghanistan.
Reuters reported that Mehsud is said to have revived the group, transformed its strategy and united warring factions with diplomatic skill, as per analysts. Trained as a religious scholar, he also took up an ideological battle while the Taliban’s 2021 takeover next door gave the TTP freer movement and greater access to weapons, the report said.
As a result of this, attacks inside Pakistan escalated – especially in the northwest bordering Afghanistan. In the past, the TTP struck civilian targets, like mosques and markets, including killing more than 130 children in a 2014 school assault.
But Mehsud was concerned these attacks caused public revulsion in Pakistan, directing the group to target only military and police. In a rare video speech released earlier this year, he portrayed Pakistan’s army as anti-Islam, criticized its role in politics, and said the generals had “hijacked the people of Pakistan for the last 78 years”.
Pakistan has often claimed that the TTP has perverted Islam and is supported by the India, a charge that New Delhi denies.
Group Editor, Investigations & Security Affairs, Network18
Group Editor, Investigations & Security Affairs, Network18
Islamabad, Pakistan
October 16, 2025, 7:54 PM IST
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