Taliban leader reported killed by missile now believed alive
Source: Agencies |
April 30, 2010, Friday
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THE head of the Pakistani Taliban is now believed to have survived a US missile strike earlier this year, intelligence officials said yesterday, reversing earlier claims he had died and handing the militants something of a propaganda victory.
US security officials had also said they believed Hakimullah Mehsud was killed in the January attack in an area between the North and South Waziristan tribal regions close to the Afghanistan border. They were not immediately available for comment.
The Taliban themselves had always claimed Mehsud was alive, but said they were not going to offer any evidence such as a video recording because doing so could help security forces hunt him down. Until or unless they do, questions are likely to remain over his fate, given the patchy nature of intelligence from the tribal regions.
Four intelligence officials said Pakistan's main spy agency now believed Mehsud was alive and well. They cited electronic surveillance and reports from sources in the field, including from inside the Taliban.
One official said Mehsud was believed to have been wounded in the attack and had been seen alive after the attack.
All spoke on condition of anonymity because they work for the spy agencies, which do not allow operatives to be named in the media.
One senior official said Mehsud was no longer the major force in the movement, which has carried out scores of attacks in Pakistan in recent years and is allied to al-Qaida and militants in Afghanistan fighting US and NATO troops. He said other Taliban commanders, such as Waliur Rehman, were now overshadowing him.
None of the intelligence officials explained how earlier statements that he had died were wrong.
On February 10, Pakistan's chief civilian security official, Interior Minister Rehman Malik, confirmed reports that Hakimullah was dead.
On February 3, a senior US intelligence official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive security matters, said that the best collective information of US intelligence agencies was that the militant was dead. The official would not say what evidence the US had gathered.
The United States has greatly expanded its covert missile strike program in northwest Pakistan over the last 20 months. This year alone it has carried out more than 30 such attacks. US officials do not talk about the program on the record.
US security officials had also said they believed Hakimullah Mehsud was killed in the January attack in an area between the North and South Waziristan tribal regions close to the Afghanistan border. They were not immediately available for comment.
The Taliban themselves had always claimed Mehsud was alive, but said they were not going to offer any evidence such as a video recording because doing so could help security forces hunt him down. Until or unless they do, questions are likely to remain over his fate, given the patchy nature of intelligence from the tribal regions.
Four intelligence officials said Pakistan's main spy agency now believed Mehsud was alive and well. They cited electronic surveillance and reports from sources in the field, including from inside the Taliban.
One official said Mehsud was believed to have been wounded in the attack and had been seen alive after the attack.
All spoke on condition of anonymity because they work for the spy agencies, which do not allow operatives to be named in the media.
One senior official said Mehsud was no longer the major force in the movement, which has carried out scores of attacks in Pakistan in recent years and is allied to al-Qaida and militants in Afghanistan fighting US and NATO troops. He said other Taliban commanders, such as Waliur Rehman, were now overshadowing him.
None of the intelligence officials explained how earlier statements that he had died were wrong.
On February 10, Pakistan's chief civilian security official, Interior Minister Rehman Malik, confirmed reports that Hakimullah was dead.
On February 3, a senior US intelligence official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive security matters, said that the best collective information of US intelligence agencies was that the militant was dead. The official would not say what evidence the US had gathered.
The United States has greatly expanded its covert missile strike program in northwest Pakistan over the last 20 months. This year alone it has carried out more than 30 such attacks. US officials do not talk about the program on the record.
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