Noor Wali Mehsud

Noor Wali Mehsud (born 26 June 1978), also known by his nom de guerre Abu Mansur Asim, is a Pakistani militant and internationally designated terrorist who served as the fourth emir of the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) since 2018. On 22 June 2018, Mehsud was named the emir of the TTP after the former emir, Mullah Fazlullah, was killed in a US drone strike in Kunar, Afghanistan. Mehsud became TTP emir during the group's weakest point since its inception, as the TTP no longer held territory in Pakistan and had been plagued by internal divisions. Despite this, since Mehsud's rule, the TTP appears to have "grown deadlier." Mehsud steered the TTP in a new direction, sparing civilians and ordering assaults only on security and law enforcement personnel, in an attempt to rehabilitate the group's image and distance them from the Islamic State – Khorasan Province (Daesh–Khorasan) militant group's extremism. The US classified Mehsud as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist on 10 September 2019. In July 2020, Mehsud was included on the ISIL and Al-Qaeda Sanctions Committee list by the United Nations. Although some sources reported his assassination in October 2025, the TTP released an unverified voice note from Mehsud claiming that he was still alive.