Pakistani Taliban confirms leader’s death and looks to find successor
Print Edition
The Pakistani Taliban confirmed the death of their leader in a US drone strike yesterday, a day after he was killed, as the group’s leadership council met to begin the process of choosing a successor.
The death of Hakimullah Mehsud, a ruthless leader notorious for attacking a CIA base in Afghanistan and a bloody campaign that killed thousands of Pakistani civilians and members of the security forces, is a heavy blow for the militant group. The drone strike came as the Pakistan government tries to negotiate a peace agreement with the Tehreek-e-Taliban, as the militant group Mehsud headed was formally called. Already the strike threatened to worsen US-Pakistan relations as Pakistan’s information minister criticized the US for jeopardizing peace talks.
“What we can say is this time the drone (strike) was on the dialogue, but we will not let the dialogue die,” Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid said.
Azam Tariq, the Pakistani Taliban spokesman in the South Waziristan tribal area, provided the first official confirmation of Mehsud’s death.
“We are proud of the martyrdom of Hakimullah Mehsud,” Tariq said by telephone. “We will continue our activities.”
Mehsud and the other four militants killed in the strike were buried yesterday at an undisclosed location, Taliban commanders said. Drones still flew over North Waziristan yesterday. Witnesses in the towns of Mir Ali and Miran Shah said Mehsud’s supporters fired at them in anger.
The Taliban’s Shura Council, a group of commanders, gathered yesterday in the North Waziristan tribal area, intelligence officials said.
That’s the same region where a US drone strike killed Mehsud on Friday.
The Shura will continue to meet for a few days before it makes a decision, said Tariq, the Taliban spokesman.
The two main candidates to succeed Mehsud are Khan Sayed, the Pakistani Taliban leader in the South Waziristan tribal area, and Mullah Fazlullah, the chief in the northwest Swat Valley, said Pakistani intelligence officials and Taliban commanders interviewed by phone.
Mehsud gained a reputation as a merciless planner of suicide attacks in Pakistan.
As Pakistani Taliban leader, he is said to have been behind a suicide attack at a CIA base in Afghanistan and a failed car bombing in New York’s Times Square, as well as assaults in Pakistan that killed thousands.
He was on the US wanted list with a US$5 million bounty.
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