Baitullah Mehsud dead: Pak
August 7th, 2009 - 4:52 pm ICT by IBNSIslamabad, Aug 7 (IBNS) Pakistan Friday confirmed that Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud is ‘dead’.
Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, confirmed that the intelligence information on Mehsud’s death is absolutely true.
“According to the intelligence he (Mehsud) has been take out. But we are going a ground verification and once the results are out we will give an official confirmation,” Qureshi told reporters Friday.
Mehsud, who was a key Al Qaeda facilitator, was killed in a US drone attack in South Waziristan in Pakistan’s restive tribal belt on Wednesday.
The pre-funeral prayers of the chief of Tehreek-e-Taliban was held on Thursday and the funeral is likely to be held today (Friday).
As per local media reports the Talibans will meet today to elect their new leader. There are reportedly three contenders who are in the fray to take over as Pak Taliban’s new chief. The names that are doing rounds are that of Hakimullah Mehsud, Asfatullah and Wali-ur-Rehman.
Pakistani officials said Mehsud was the mastermind behind a number of high-profile terrorist attacks, including the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in 2007.
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Tags: al qaeda, benazir bhutto, contenders, drone, facilitator, foreign minister, former prime minister, ibns, islamabad, local media, mastermind, mehmood, pakistani officials, prayers, qureshi, south waziristan, taliban, talibans, terrorist attacks, tribal belt