Faqir Mohammed - Background

Background

He was born in Chopatra, in Bajaur Agency, Pakistan. Until the age of 20, he was a student unknown for any militancy. He began his education studying in a local madrassa under Maulana Abdus Salam. His first jihad mentor was Maulana Sufi Mohammad, to whom he was introduced in 1993 at the age of 22. Sufi Mohammad is the founder of Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM), or Movement for the Enforcement of Islamic Laws.

He has one wife in a tribal society, where polygamy is not uncommon.

Mohammed was a staunch activist of TNSM. He and his two sons were captured in Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban in late 2001, and were held in Dera Ismail Khan jail in southern Pakistan. However, he successfully fled back to Pakistan, where his knowledge of the territory has been useful to Al-Qaeda operatives.

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