Qari Zainuddin Mehsud (died ), commonly known as Qari Zain, was a citizen of Pakistan, a member of the Mehsud tribe, and a leader of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP/Pakistani Taliban) in South Waziristan, one of Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas. Pakistan's Daily Times described him as the "self-appointed successor of Taliban commander Abdullah Mehsud" although he feuded with Baitullah Mehsud over leadership of the Pakistani Taliban. In the months before his assassination, the Pakistani government unofficially supported Zainuddin as a counter to Baitullah. Life Qari Zainuddin, a member of the Shaman Khel sub-clan of the Mehsud tribe, was born in Shaho Deeba village of South Waziristan's Sarokai subdivision. He received education from the Jami'a Speen Mosque, the Darul Uloom Faizoo in Lakki Marwat and also in the seminary of Maulana Taqi Usmani in Korangi, Karachi. After his education, he traveled in support of the Taliban to Afghanistan. Zainuddin joined Abdullah Mehsud, his cousin, after Abdullah attempted to assert his leadership of the Pakistani Taliban in the wake of Nek Muhammad Wazir's death in 2004. After Abdullah and later his brother Masudur Rahman were killed, Qari Zain assumed leadership of the Abdullah Mehsud faction. Rivalry within Pakistani Taliban After Nek Muhammad's death, Abdullah Mehsud and Baitullah Mehsud both vied for dominance of the Pakistani Taliban. When Abdullah died in a raid by Pakistani security forces and later his successor perished in a bomb explosion, Qari Zain and other members of Abdullah's faction suspected that Baitullah played a role in the attacks. The rivalry continued after Zainuddin obtained leadership of Abdullah's group. Senior Taliban leader Maulvi Nazir, whose relationship with Baitullah had deteriorated over the issue of sheltering Uzbek militants, offered his support to Zainuddin. After Nazir and Baitullah, along with Hafiz Gul Bahadur, pledged in February 2009 to set aside their differences to focus efforts upon NATO forces in Afghanistan, Qari Zain's forces allied with a group led by Turkestan Bhittani, an older Taliban figure who had unofficially aligned with the government in its fight against Baitullah. In March 2009 the two competing factions distributed pamphlets that leveled accusations against the other groups' leader. Zainuddin's pamphlet, distributed on March 16, stated: {| class="wikitable" border="1" | "Baitullah Mehsud is not involved in jihad because Islam does not allow suicide attacks, which his group is perpetrating." "Our doors are open to all those who have suffered injustice at the hands of Baitullah." "We