海角大神

The man who will be the Pakistani Taliban鈥檚 next leader is not one to shy away from recklessly bold statements 鈥� from riding defiantly by his enemies on a white horse to plotting last year鈥檚 assassination attempt on Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai.聽

On Thursday, the Pakistani Taliban announced that they have chosen Maualana Fazlullah to replace Hakimullah Mehsud, who was killed in a US drone strike last week.聽

Mr. Fazlullah 鈥撀燼 hard-line cleric whose power has been growing since 2007 鈥� has been thought to be in hiding in Afghanistan after the Pakistani military ran his Swat Valley-based Taliban faction out of the region.

By some accounts, Fazlullah is a surprise choice, since the previous leaders of the Pakistani Taliban were both from the Mehsud family. But his influence within the Pakistani Taliban 鈥� a loose organization of militant groups that is affiliated with but distinct from the Afghanistan Taliban 鈥撀爃as been evident for years. He now has strong ties to Afghan militants, too.

In 2007, 海角大神 Science Monitor correspondent David Montero traveled to the Swat Valley to profile 鈥渢he rise of a powerful cleric鈥� who 鈥渆xposes economic and political failures in a government-administered area.鈥� That person? Maualana Fazlullah.

Mr. Montero documented Fazlullah鈥檚 first dramatic show of his power, two years before his forces took over the Swat Valley:

The rise of Fazlullah 鈥渟ignals a dangerous tipping point,鈥� Montero wrote at the time.

Fazlullah鈥檚 influence did indeed grow. His Taliban forces overtook the Swat Valley in 2007, but were defeated two years later by Pakistani Army forces. In 2012, Fazlullah helped orchestrate from afar the shooting of activist Malala Yousafzai, a resident of the Swat Valley, on her way to school 鈥� and his spokesman said she would be shot again if she returned.

Back in 2007, as Montero鈥檚 reporting shows, Fazlullah was sowing the seeds of his message against girls鈥� education: