The United States on Tuesday designated Pakistani Taliban (Mehsud) leader Khan Said, former deputy leader of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, and Ramzi Mawafi, a long-time Al Qaeda member best known as the physician of the late Osama bin laden, as “Specially Designated Global Terrorists”.
Khan Said, also known as Khalid Mehsud, broke away from the TTP last May along with the rest of the Mehsud faction, being referred to as the Mehsud Taliban. In a public statement following the split, Said professed his continued commitment to terrorist activity.
Announcing the designation under an executive order that targets terrorists and those providing support to terrorists or acts of terrorism, the US State Department said that Khan Said has had experience fighting in Afghanistan and is believed to be involved in the attack on a Naval base in Karachi. He is also credited with masterminding a 2012 jailbreak in which the Taliban freed 400 inmates in the northwestern city of Bannu.
Following the designations, the US will prohibit its nationals from engaging in any transactions with Said and Mawafi, whose property and interests in the US will be frozen.
Khan Said became deputy leader of Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan following the death of Wali-ur-Rehman in May 2013. He was previously responsible for TTP operations in South Waziristan.