(Reuters) - The Pakistan government on Monday announced rewards worth $5 million (3 million pound) for information leading to the capture, dead or alive, of Pakistan Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud and 18 other militants. Skip related content
Hakimullah leads a disparate group of militants in South Waziristan, near the Afghan border, which has become the focus of a major offensive by the Pakistan army.
The militants have retaliated by staging bloody bomb and commando-style attacks on urban targets, the latest on Monday when a suicide bomber killed 35 people in Rawalpindi.
A $600,000 bounty each was offered for Hakimullah and his two top aides, Wali-ur-Rehman and Qari Hussain Mehsud.
Following are some facts about the trio:
HAKIMULLAH MEHSUD
Regarded as brutal, Hakimullah became overall head of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, (Taliban Movement of Pakistan) in August after the death of his predecessor, Baitullah Mehsud, in a missile strike by a CIA-operated drone.
Pakistan said Hakimullah had been killed in a shootout with Wali-ur-Rehman over a dispute over who should lead the Taliban, but it proved false and the pair, along with Rehman, surfaced before a group of journalists in Sararogha last month.
Before his elevation as Taliban head, Hakimullah was commander of about 8,000 militants in the Kurram, Orakzai and Khyber ethnic Pashtun tribal regions.
Believed to be in his 30s, Hakimullah is considered more violent and aggressive than Mehsud, but also quite media savvy. He has vowed to take revenge for Mehsud's killing.
Hakimullah claimed responsibility for a daring suicide attack on Peshawar's Pearl Continental hotel in June that killed seven people, including two U.N. workers. His fighters regularly ambush trucks taking supplies through the Khyber Pass to Afghan government and Western forces across the border.
He works closely with Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, a militant group linked to al Qaeda that has its roots in central Punjab province.
WALI-UR-REHMAN
A former teacher, Rehman is believed to be the same age as Hakimullah but variously described by local media as more "sober, wise and experienced."
He was a senior leader and spokesman for the Taliban and considered to be a contender for the supreme leadership after Mehsud's death.
Instead, he became commander of militants in South Waziristan as part of a power-sharing deal with Hakimullah -- an appointment some analysts say means he retains major influence.
QARI HUSSAIN MEHSUD
Hussain, a cousin of Hakimullah, is commonly known as "Ustad-e-Fidayeen" or "the mentor of suicide bombers."
He was believed be running a number of training camps for suicide bombers in his home town of Kotkai in South Waziristan which was captured by the security forces this month.
(Editing by David Fox and Alex Richardson)
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