SUMMARY

The Forces of Shah Sahib (also known as Forces of Shah Khalid) were an Islamic fundamentalist militant insurgent group operating in the Mohmand Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, in North WesternPakistan, close to the Afghan border. The group consisted mainly of followers of the radical Salafi/Ahle Hadith sect of Islam, frequently being referred to, locally, as the Ahle Hadith.

There is evidence that the Forces of Shah Sahib were formed by Kashmiri activists around 2006. Many of these activists belonged to Lashkar-e Taiba, a group that used Mohmand Agency as training grounds. Further linkages exist with Jamiat Ahle Hadith, a relatively large Pakistani Islamist political party, presumably mostly on religious grounds. The Forces of Shah Sahib did not fight the Government of Pakistan, being described, especially by their opponents, to be pro-Government. However, the group did send militants to Afghanistan, to fight alongside the Taleban. The group was not large, never having more than a few hundred militants. The forces of Shah Sahib were destroyed in July 2008, when militants belonging to the TTP (Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan), under the command of Omar Khalid (a.k.a. Abdul Wali) attacked and destroyed their camp, killing a large number of militants (including Shah Sahib himself).

The leader of the group was Shah Sahib (a.k.a. Shah Khalid) throughout the existence of the group. After his death in 2008, the group disbanded.

The Forces of Shah Sahib have been involved in the non-state category of UCDP organised violence.