DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan: Pakistan’s Taleban commander Baitullah Mehsud, who unleashed a fearsome campaign of suicide attacks and assassinations that made him the country’s most-wanted man, was killed in a US missile strike, an aide said Friday.
Considered by Pakistan to be its top internal threat, Mehsud had Al-Qaeda connections and was suspected in the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.
Pakistani and US intelligence officials said the CIA was behind Wednesday’s strike that killed Mehsud.
“I confirm that Baitullah Mehsud and his wife died in the American missile attack in South Waziristan,” Taleban commander Kafayat Ullah told The Associated Press by telephone. He would not elaborate.
A local tribesman, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Mehsud had been at his father-in-law’s house being treated for kidney pain, and had been put on a drip by a doctor when the missile struck. The tribesman claimed he attended the Taleban chief’s funeral.
Pakistani intelligence officials said Mehsud was buried in the village of Nardusai in South Waziristan, near the site of the missile strike.
The missile attack also killed Mehsud’s brother and seven bodyguards as well as his wife, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said.
Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said intelligence showed Mehsud had been killed in his father-in-law’s house and officials would travel to the site to verify his death.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the administration could not confirm the death of Mehsud. “There seems to be a growing consensus among credible observers that he is indeed dead,” he said, adding that if he is dead, “without a doubt, the people of Pakistan will be safer as a result.”
The US put a $5 million bounty on his head in March. Increasingly, American missiles fired by unmanned drones have focused on Mehsud-related targets.
While his demise would be a major boost to Pakistani and US efforts to eradicate the Taleban and Al-Qaeda, it won’t necessarily deal a definitive blow because he has deputies who could take his place.
Taleban commanders met Friday in a shoura in South Waziristan to choose his successor, but failed to reach a decision, intelligence and Taleban sources said. It was unclear when they would meet again.
Among those under consideration are his spokesman Hakimullah Mehsud, Azmatullah, a regional commander in South Waziristan and Wali-ur-Rehman, Baitullah’s first cousin and deputy.
Most shoura members had agreed to choose Hakimullah, but some wanted to honor Baitullah, who had wished to see Wali-ur-Rehman as his successor, said a Taleban commander, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Whether a new leader could wreak as much havoc as Mehsud depends largely on how much pressure the Pakistani military continues to put on the network.
