"The emergence of the Islamic State caliphate and the possibility of a Khurasan chapter once again fanned Saeed Khan’s ambitions to become a high-level militant leader in the region. The much-expected shift of allegiance came last October, when Saeed Khan along with other TTP regional commanders such as Sheikh Umar Maqbool, Gul Zaman of Khyber Agency, Mufti Hassan of Peshawar, Hafiz Quran Daulat of Kurram, and Khalid Mansoor of Hangu pledged allegiance the Islamic State (Dawn [Karachi], October 14, 2014).