Videos available on YouTube show that armed men in black with balaclavas freely roam the streets of one of the biggest towns in North Waziristan. There are no signs of security forces as the men belonging to a militant hit squad created to hunt suspected US spies throw a man into a station wagon and pin him down.
Nervous bystanders keep their distance. Another man looks horrified as militants haul him off a pick up truck. Both are shown in another video being blown up by explosives placed at their feet. In the videos, the militants were wearing shirts with patches bearing their group's name, Mujahideen al-Khurasan, and none seemed worried about being captured or killed.
Throughout the footage, a Khurasan song could be heard. "These people in white cars and black windows are pursuing their aim. They are the Khurasan," it said. But there plenty of reasons to fear them. The group has gone rogue. Its brutal methods, such as electrocutions and drilling during interrogations, alienated Taliban leaders, men who would not hesitate to order beheadings.