Who is the Pakistani Taliban leader that a report says has been killed and how did he die?”
Majeed/AFP/Getty Images Pakistan’s military said today it was scrambling to confirm a report on state television that the leader of the Pakistani Taliban, Hakimullah Mehsud, has been killed. The report said Mehsud, a target of CIA-directed drone attacks over the past month, has already been buried. The source of the information was not clear. The main army spokesman, Major General Athar Abbas, told the Guardian the army was trying to verify the report. “We don’t have any confirmation yet,” he said, adding that the PTV information did not come from “any state agency”. An elder in the Mamuzai area of Orakzai tribal agency said he attended Mehsud’s funeral on Thursday, the Associated Press reported. Speaking anonymously for fear of retaliation, the elder said Mehsud died at his in-laws’ home. A Reuters report, quoting a Pakistani intelligence official, said the Taliban leader may have been fatally wounded following a 17 January drone attack on two vehicles in North Waziristan. Mehsud’s fa
Pakistan investigates report Taliban chief is dead By ASIF SHAHZAD, Associated Press Writer Asif Shahzad, Associated Press Writer Sun Jan 31, 11:11 am ET ISLAMABAD – The Pakistani government was investigating reports Sunday that Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud died from injuries sustained in a U.S. drone missile strike launched in mid-January after he helped orchestrate a deadly bombing against the CIA in Afghanistan. Mehsud’s predecessor was killed in a missile strike less than six months ago, and inflicting another blow to the militant group’s leadership would be an important success for both Pakistan and the U.S. The U.S. unleashed more than a dozen drone strikes in the month following the Dec. 30 suicide bombing against the CIA in Afghanistan, and Mehud’s death would be further proof of the ability of the unmanned aircraft to target Taliban and al-Qaida leaders holed up in Pakistan’s lawless tribal areas. Pakistani government officials said they were investigating whethe
Pakistan said on Sunday it was trying to confirm new reports on state television that Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud had been killed by a US drone strike, as the militia again denied his death. Speculation about the warlord’s death first surfaced after a January 14 bombing by unmanned US planes in the Taliban stronghold of North Waziristan, but within days Mehsud released two audio statements denying his demise. Security officials said at the time he may have been wounded, and on Sunday state television station PTV, citing unnamed sources, reported that Mehsud had been buried on Friday in the northwestern tribal district of Orakzai. “I don’t have the confirmation, my sources have not confirmed it, whether he is dead or alive,” chief military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas told AFP, adding that the report was being investigated. Sources: Yahoo!
