Baitullah Mehsud speaks to reporters in South Waziristan.—Reuters

KARACHI Taliban commander Qari Zainuddin Mehsud has said that Islam does not permit attacks inside Pakistan and it cannot be spread through use of force.

A private news TV channel website quoted Qari Zainuddin as saying that differences of opinion led to a rift between him and South Waziristan-based TTP leader Baitullah Mehsud.

Many tribesmen and officials agree that more than any military operation, it is Qari Zainuddin who seems to have unruffled the powerful Baitullah Mehsud.

Qari Zainuddin said that his fight was against Baitullah, and not the common people. 'My fighters are united in the war against Kufr (unbelief).'

Like Baitullah, Qari Zainuddin is a native Mehsud and has been leading his own militant group, which was once led by Abdullah Mehsud — a one-legged fiery fighter and former Guantanamo detainee who was killed in a commando action in Balochistan.