has been leading operations against NATO's supply lines in Khyber and Peshawar. Hakeemullah is a senior lieutenant of Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud and the cousin of Qari Hussain, the notorious Taliban commander who trains child suicide bombers in South Waziristan.

Hakeemullah is a rising star in the Pakistani Taliban. He also commands the Taliban in Kurram and Arakzai tribal agencies. He declared sharia, or Islamic law, in Arakzai late last month. In Khyber, Hakeemullah has rivaled the Lashkar-e-Islam for control.

In August, the Taliban again again closed the Kohat Tunnel down for more than a month.

During the latter part of 2008, the Taliban, led by Hakeemullah, stepped up its attacks on NATO columns and shipping terminals in Khyber and Peshawar. More than 300 NATO vehicles and containers have been destroyed in a series of attacks on shipping terminals in Peshawar as well as attacks on convoys moving through the region.