[11] Noor Wali Mehsud was born on 26 June 1978 in a village in the Tiarza Subdivision of the South Waziristan region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

[15] Around 1996–1997, Mehsud's religious education was interrupted as he left for Afghanistan to fight alongside the Afghan Taliban and allied jihadist forces against Ahmad Shah Massoud's Northern Alliance.

[15] On the advice of his father, Haji Gul Shah Khan, Noor Wali Mehsud returned to Pakistan to finish his religious education, graduating in 1999.

[15] Fighting broke out on 16 March 2004 when the Pakistani army began an operation to clear out Al-Qaeda jihadists from the Wanna area in South Waziristan, being met with fierce resistance.

[20] In this battle, Mufti Noor Wali Mehsud lead local Taliban fighters in an ambush of the Pakistani army in Tayar Manza.

[14] Due to Noor Wali's religious education, he was made a qazi (judge) in a Taliban court formed by Baitullah Mehsud.

Maulvi Sahib clarified that Ikramullah and Badarwala Bilal did it, before being congratulated by Baitullah Mehsud and agreeing to meet in Makin at "Anwar Shah's house.

Mufti Noor Wali Mehsud also provided details on the attack from the TTP's perspective, mentioning that following the failed assassination attempt in October 2007, "the government had not taken appropriate security measures that made it possible for the attackers to have easy access to Benazir Bhutto in Rawalpindi," partially implicating then president, Pervez Musharraf in Bhutto's assassination.

[27] Noor Wali mentions the assassination's masterminds Moulvi Imran, Ahmas alias Nasrullah, Qari Ismail, and Mullah Ihsan and their role in the planning of the attack.

"[27] According to Noor Wali, Ikramullah never detonated his suicide belt and fled the scene to his home town of Makin before going to Afghanistan, where he resides now.

In this position, he oversaw the extortion and kidnapping of many of Karachi's residents, bank robberies, and assassinations for money to fund the TTP's operations.

[29] In one such instance, Muhammad Ibrahim, the owner of a transportation company in Karachi, was called to the TTP courts in Miramshah to resolve a business dispute with a relative.

[15] Also in early 2018, Mufti Noor Wali Mehsud was promoted to deputy head of the TTP, second in command to then leader, Maulana Fazlullah.

[15] Fazlullah was killed in a US drone strike in Afghanistan on 14 June 2018 and after a week-long deliberation period, the TTP named Mufti Noor Wali Mehsud as the group's emir.