Pak Taliban chief threatens to dispatch militants to India

In this photo taken on October 4, 2009, new Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud holds a rocket launcher in Sararogha of the Pakistani tribal area of South Waziristan along the Afghanistan border. Mehsud has vowed to send his fighters to India "once an Islamic state is created in Pakistan."

As his militants wrought havoc in the country by a series of attacks and suicide blasts, Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud has threatened to dispatch terrorists to fight India, “once an Islamic state had been created in Pakistan.”

“We want an Islamic state. If we get that, then we will go to the borders and help fight the Indians,” Hakimullah Mehsud said in footage aired by Britain’s Sky News channel.

The channel said it recently acquired the footage of Hakimullah Mehsud, who claimed responsibility for several attacks across Pakistan over the past week, including a terrorist assault on the Army’s headquarters in the garrison city of Rawalpindi over the weekend.

“We are fighting the (Pakistani) military, police and militia because they are following American orders. If they stop following their orders, we will stop fighting them,” said Hakimullah Mehsud.

Hakimullah Mehsud was named the new chief of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan after his predecessor Baitullah Mehsud was killed in a U.S. drone attack in Waziristan in August.

Hakimullah Mehsud recently met several reporters from the Mehsud clan to dispel reports that he had died in fighting with a rival militant faction.

Sky News also reported that the Pakistani Taliban had bolstered their finances through the sale and manufacture of drugs like heroin. The Taliban were also extorting protection money from businesses in Afghanistan, it reported.