Pakistan's Taliban leader reportedly killed by US
Source: Agencies |
February 1, 2010, Monday
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THE Pakistani army said yesterday it was investigating reports that Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud died from injuries sustained in a United States drone missile strike in mid-January.
The militant leader's death would be an important success for both Pakistan, which has been battling the Pakistani Taliban, and the US, which blames Mehsud for a recent deadly bombing against the CIA in Afghanistan.
The army's disclosure came shortly after Pakistani state television, citing unnamed "official sources," reported that Mehsud died in Orakzai, an area in Pakistan's northwest tribal region where he was reportedly being treated for his injuries.
"We have these reports coming to us," army spokesman General Athar Abbas told The Associated Press. "We are investigating whether it is true or wrong."
A tribal elder told the AP anonymously he attended Mehsud's funeral in the Mamuzai area of Orakzai on Thursday after he died at his in-laws' home.
Mehsud issued two audio tapes after the strike denying the rumors. But Pakistani intelligence officials told the AP on Sunday they have confirmation that the Taliban chief's legs and abdomen were wounded in the strike.
The drone strike that targeted Mehsud came about two weeks after a deadly suicide bombing he helped orchestrate killed seven CIA employees at a remote base across the border in Afghanistan. Mehsud appeared in a video issued after the bombing sitting beside the Jordanian man who carried out the attack.
The bomber, Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi, said he carried out the attack in retribution for the death of Mehsud's predecessor as leader of the Pakistani Taliban leader - Baitullah Mehsud- who was killed in a US drone strike last August.
The militant leader's death would be an important success for both Pakistan, which has been battling the Pakistani Taliban, and the US, which blames Mehsud for a recent deadly bombing against the CIA in Afghanistan.
The army's disclosure came shortly after Pakistani state television, citing unnamed "official sources," reported that Mehsud died in Orakzai, an area in Pakistan's northwest tribal region where he was reportedly being treated for his injuries.
"We have these reports coming to us," army spokesman General Athar Abbas told The Associated Press. "We are investigating whether it is true or wrong."
A tribal elder told the AP anonymously he attended Mehsud's funeral in the Mamuzai area of Orakzai on Thursday after he died at his in-laws' home.
Mehsud issued two audio tapes after the strike denying the rumors. But Pakistani intelligence officials told the AP on Sunday they have confirmation that the Taliban chief's legs and abdomen were wounded in the strike.
The drone strike that targeted Mehsud came about two weeks after a deadly suicide bombing he helped orchestrate killed seven CIA employees at a remote base across the border in Afghanistan. Mehsud appeared in a video issued after the bombing sitting beside the Jordanian man who carried out the attack.
The bomber, Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi, said he carried out the attack in retribution for the death of Mehsud's predecessor as leader of the Pakistani Taliban leader - Baitullah Mehsud- who was killed in a US drone strike last August.
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