Reports: Taliban leader was killed

Washington Post

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Reports circulated Sunday that Hakimullah Mehsud, the top leader of Taliban extremist forces in Pakistan, has died from wounds sustained in a U.S. unmanned aerial strike in mid-January. But army and civilian officials said they could not confirm his death.

Pakistani state television said that Mehsud, 28, had died and been buried in the Orakzai tribal agency, where he had relatives. Pakistani intelligence officials said they had also received reports of his death. The senior army spokesman said military officials were “investigating” the reports but had not been able to verify them.

A White House official said Sunday that he was “95 percent” sure that Mehsud had been killed. But other U.S. officials said the reports were still being investigated.

“While I can’t confirm reports of Hakimullah’s demise, here’s to hoping they’re true,” said a senior U.S. official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. “This is one of the worst people on the planet.”

If confirmed, Mehsud’s death would be the second major blow to the Taliban, an Islamist militia based in Pakistan’s tribal region, in the past six months. The group’s previous leader, Baitullah Mehsud, was killed in a U.S. drone missile attack in August.

The Pakistani army has been waging a sustained operation since last summer against the Taliban, which is believed to have carried out dozens of suicide attacks across the country, including the bombings of two major hotels, public markets, and variety of military and police targets.

Although the army drove the Taliban out of the Swat Valley and the South Waziristan tribal area, it has refused to pursue fleeing militants into North Waziristan despite U.S. pressure. Meanwhile, although militant attacks have continued, officials have been attempting to negotiate with the Taliban through tribal elders.

American drone strikes against Taliban and al-Qaida targets near the Afghan border intensified after a Dec. 30 suicide bombing in Afghanistan killed five CIA officials, two agency contractors and a Jordanian intelligence officer. The bomber, a Jordanian, made a video before his death in which he was shown with Hakimullah Mehsud and called on Muslims to avenge the death of Baitullah Mehsud.

Hakimullah Mehsud was initially reported to have been killed or wounded in a Jan. 14 drone strike on a militant compound, but he then issued two statements saying he was alive. A second strike, on Jan. 17, that hit two vehicles was also said to have wounded him. There were unconfirmed reports Sunday that tribal elders in Orakzai said he had been taken there and buried four days earlier.

A military intelligence official in South Waziristan, reached by telephone late Sunday, said he had heard reports that Mehsud had died in Orakzai after suffering serious injuries. “We are not sure of the reports. Only after getting solid proof can we say something,” the official said.