MEMRI - Middle East Media Research Institute

MEMRI - Middle East Media Research Institute

On May 2, 2010, the new YouTube page Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, "TehreekeTaliban's Channel," which was launched on the same date, posted three videos.

Military, government, and media personnel may request a copy of the videos by sending an email with "Taliban Pakistan Videos, Hakimullah Mehsud" in the subject line to media@memri.org

TTP Leader Hakimullah Mehsud Declares: 'From Now On, the Main Targets of Our Fidaeen [Suicide Bombers] Are American Cities'

The first, which the YouTube page titled "Hakeemullah Mehsud is Alive and Healthy and Delivering news about Attacks on USA," is 2:17 long, and shows a still satellite image of North America with a still image of Hakimullah Mehsud. Speaking in Urdu, he states that the date is April 19, 2010 and threatens bombings in U.S. "states & cities"; as he speaks, explosions are shown taking place across the map. (To view this clip on MEMRI TV, visit http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/2463.htm. NOTE: You must be a member of the MEMRI Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM) to view these clips.)

The second video, which the YouTube page also titled "Hakeemullah Mehsud is Alive and Healthy and Delivering news about Attacks on USA," is 8:42 minutes long, and shows Hakimullah Mehsud sitting surrounded by masked, armed men. Speaking in the Pashtu language, he states that the date is April 19, 2010, and discusses attacks on the U.S.[1] (To view this clip on MEMRI TV, visit http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/2462.htm)

In the third video, which is 1:06 minutes long, Qari Hussain Mehsud, a key leader of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and a close lieutenant of Hakimullah Mehsud, claims responsibility for the May 1, 2010 failed car bomb plot in the Times Square, against a backdrop of still images. (To read the full report on MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor, visit http://www.memrijttm.org/content/en/report.htm?report=4129¶m=GJN.)

Commander of Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan Mustafa Abu Al-Yazid on Beitullah Mehsud: "I Myself Heard Him Say: 'I Want to Shatter the Americans' Pride and Arrogance and Strike Them On Their Own Soil'"

The Taliban leaders’ declarations come against the backdrop of an early October 2009 video which revealed that the Taliban leaders had begun formulating intentions to target the U.S. sometime last year. In an eight-minute video posted on jihadist websites on October 1, 2009, Al-Qaeda commander Mustafa Abu Al-Yazid revealed that Beitullah Mehsud, Hakimullah Mehsud's predecessor, had wanted to launch attacks inside the U.S.[2]

In his eulogy for Beitullah Mehsud, who was killed in a U.S. drone attack on August 5, 2009, Abu Al-Yazid observed:"The Emir Beitullah was a student of shari'a studies, one of those who began their lives in shari'a studies, and he made great progress in this. But when the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan arose and was in need of people to support it, back it, and stand against the enemies lying in wait for it in northern Afghanistan, he joined the ranks of the Emirate's mujahideen early on, under the command of the Commander of the Faithful Mullah Muhammad Omar, may Allah protect him.

"The Emir Beitullah was a man of great aspirations and far-reaching ambitions. He undertook to educate and prepare his tribesmen to fight the enemies of Allah in Afghanistan and Pakistan. He even aspired to send his mujahideen soldiers to fight against the infidels on their own soil. I myself heard him say: 'I want to shatter the Americans' pride and arrogance and strike them on their own soil.'"

The following are the three transcripts as they appeared in the original videos posted on YouTube, with the original spellings, punctuation, and emphases.