Speculation Taliban leader died after drone strike

THE Pakistani army said yesterday it was investigating reports Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud died from injuries sustained in a US 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.

Mehsud’s predecessor was also killed in a missile strike less than six months ago, highlighting the ability of the unmanned aircraft to target Taliban and al-Qaida leaders holed up in Pakistan’s lawless tribal area.

The army’s disclosure of its investigation came shortly after Pakistani state television, citing unnamed “official sources”, reported that Mehsud died in Orakzai, an area in Pakistan’s northwest tribalregion where he was reportedly being treated for his injuries.

“We have these reports coming to us,” army spokesman General Athar Abbas said. “We are investigating whether it is true or wrong.”

A tribal elder said he attended Mehsud’s funeral in the Mamuzai area of Orakzai on Thursday. He said Mehsud was buried in Mamuzai graveyard after he died at his in-laws’ home. The elder spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution from the Taliban.

Pakistani intelligence officials have said that Mehsud was targeted in a US drone strike in South Waziristan on January 14, triggering rumours he had been injured or killed. The strike targeted a meeting of militant commanders in the Shaktoi area of South Waziristan.

Mehsud issued an audio tape after the strike directly denying the rumours, and his voice sounded strong. But Pakistani intelligence officials said yesterday that they have confirmation that the Taliban chief’s legs and abdomen were wounded in the strike.

Pakistani Taliban officials were not immediately available for comment, but low-level fighters have dismissed rumours of Mehsud’s death in recent days as propaganda.

The drone strike that targeted Mehsud came about two weeks after a deadly suicide bombing that killed seven CIA employees at a remote base across the border in Afghanistan. Mehsudappeared 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 former Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud – Hakimullah Mehsud’s predecessor – in a US drone strike last August.

The US refuses to talk about the covert CIA-run drone programme in Pakistan but officials have said privately that the strikes have killed several senior Taliban and al-Qaida leaders.

Pakistani officials publicly protest the strikes as violations of the country’s sovereignty, but US officials say privately they support the programme, especially when it targets militants like Mehsud who the government believes is a threat to the state.

Mehsud, who has the reputation as a particularly ruthless militant, took over leadership of the Pakistani Taliban soonafter Baitullah Mehsud’s death.

The 28 year-old militant leader has focused most of his attacks against targets inside Pakistan, but his men have also been blamed for attacking US and NATO supply convoys travelling through the country en route to Afghanistan.