An aide to Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan chief Baitullah Mehsud, Maulana Noor Saeed, has rubbished reports of him being killed by a United States drone strike last Wednesday, and said that he is alive, but ill.
Speaking at a function organised the Pakistani community in London, Gilani said he has confirm reports that Mehsud had assassinated Bhutto.
After his killing, the Taliban Shura (the supreme council of the Taliban) has convened meetings to elect the new TTP chief. There are three candidates in the running -- Hakimullah Mehsud, Azmatullah Mehsud and Waliur Rehman Mehsud.
Pakistan's offensive against the Taliban militia enters its decisive moment as its forces inch closer to Taliban warlord Baitullah Mehsud.
Acting on an intelligence tip-off, security agencies have nabbed the Punjab chief of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Khalilullah, along with a trained suicide bomber.
Although the United States have denied confirmation, but it's apparent that Tehrik-e-Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud has been killed in a recent US drone attack in South Waziristan, Pakistan. Mehsud's death signifies tremendous implications, and was possibly a result of intelligence penetration. Explains security expert B Raman
Hakimullah Mehsud appointment would fuel suicide attacks throughout Pakistan's urban areas. During Baitullah's time he said that suicide bombers would hit twice a week in the urban areas of Pakistan.
Taliban militant leader Baitullah Mehsud, accused by the Pakistan government of being involved in the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, is set to dispatch a delegation to meet Pakistan People's Party co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari to condole the death of the former premier, a news report has said. "The delegation, comprising prominent tribal elders and religious scholars from South Waziristan, will deliver a written condolence letter from Mehsud to Asif Zardari," it said.
The Taliban rejected Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik's claim that they had killed commander Baitullah Mehsud's father-in-law and his kin on charges of espionage, while acknowledging they were in the militants' custody.
An editorial in a Pakistani daily has claimed that intelligence outfits of India and Afghanistan funded late Tehrik-e-Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud.
The operations undertaken by the Pakistan Army in the Swat Valley of the Malakand Division in the North West Frontier Province since April have started coming in for some criticism because while the Pakistan Army has claimed to have killed over 1,500 foot soldiers of the Pakistani Taliban hardly any important leader has been killed or captured.
B Raman on the situation in Pakistan after the death of Baitullah.
Zabiullah Mujahid, spokesperson of the Taliban published new 'instructions' attributed to their leader, Mullah Hebatullah Akhundzada, and their implementation was called the 'Sharia responsibility' of the people and the media, reported Voice of America (VOA).
'Mullah Omar hatches a devious plot to eliminate Mehsud, who becomes a thorn in his side. Mehsud has been undermining Mullah's position by constant attacks on the Pakistani establishment, which fuel Mehsud's growing, cult-like power in the region.'
The fissures in the Taliban leadership has deepened as a top dissident commander vowed to target Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan chief Baitullah Mehsud, days after a noted tribal militant was gunned down for speaking out against the feared warlord. Turkistan Bhittani, a dissident Taliban militant commander, has spoken out against the leadership of Baitullah.
A top Pakistani tribal leader has vowed to wipe out the feared warlord Baitullah Mehsud, who has pushed Pakistan close to collapse. 30-year-old Qari Zainuddin, the leader of Taliban tribesmen opposed to Baitullah, said he had mobilised 3,000 armed followers and will attempt to wipe out the Pakistani Taliban chief and drive his al-Qaeda supporters from the country.
Pakistan Peoples Party chief Bhutto, 54, was killed in a suicide attack in Rawalpindi shortly after she had addressed an election rally on December 27, 2007.
Former Pakistan President General Parvez Musharraf has conceded that his country's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) maintains link with militant commanders like Sirajuddin Haqqani, suspected of having masterminded the attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul.
New Tehrik-e-Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud surfaced on Monday and vowed to strike United States and Pakistani interests -- to avenge the killing of his slain leader Baitullah Mehsud and American drone attacks on the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan. His appearance in front of a select group of reporters in the South Waziristan tribal area ended speculation over his reported death in a contest for leadership of the Pakistan Taliban, sparked by Baitullah's killing.
Following the death of Pakistan Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud in an American drone strike, an interesting question has cropped up -- Will Islamabad offer the promised bounty money of Rs 50 million to the Central Intelligence Agency for killing Pakistan's top militant?The United States government had also announced a $ 5 million bounty on Mehsud. The Pakistan government had announced a reward for the capture, dead or alive, of Baitullah.
The Pakistan government has received "credible intelligence reports" confirming the death of local Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud in a drone attack and physical evidence is being collected to validate the claim, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said on Monday.
The fighting broke out between Hakimullah Mehsud and Wali-ur-Rehman during a meeting of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan 'shura' or council to choose Baitullah's successor following the outfit chief's reported death in a US drone attack, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said on Saturday night.
At least 22 Taliban militants were killed and scores wounded as Pakistani war planes kept up their relentless strikes on the bases of Tehrik-e-Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud in restive Waziristan, while police shot dead five other radicals in Karachi on Saturday.
The head of the Pakistani police team probing former premier Benazir Bhutto's assassination on Sunday accused Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud of planning and financing her killing.
Pakistan believes Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud, who has a $5 million U.S. bounty on his head, was probably killed with his wife and bodyguards in a missile attack two days ago. According to intelligence officer in South Waziristan Mehsud's funeral had already taken place, while Pakistani media cited their own security sources saying Mehsud was dead.
Pakistan Army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani had expressed doubts about a claim by the regime of his former boss Pervez Musharraf that Benazir Bhutto was assassinated by the Pakistani Taliban, a United Nations investigator has said.
Umar Khalid, Maulana Fazlullah and Khan Said alias Sajna are under consideration for the top slot, the report said quoting sources.
Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud received splinter injuries to his head and back in an American missile strike in Pakistan's lawless Waziristan tribal region that killed at least 15 militants, according to intelligence officials.Mehsud, who became the Tehrik-e-Taliban chief after the killing of his predecessor Baitullah Mehsud in a drone attack in August last year, was injured in Thursday's United States' missile strike at Basalkot in Shaktoi area.
Pakistani security forces believe that the new Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud is already dead and the terrorist group is using his "lookalike brother" for media interviews to give an impression that he is alive, media reports in Islamabad claimed.
Hakimullah Mehsud, the feared head of the Tehrik-e-Taliban, has written a short autobiography that highlights his transformation from a student to a fierce jihadi.
Militant commander Maulvi Faqir Muhammad declared himself the head of the Pakistani Taliban, saying he was temporarily replacing Baitullah Mehsud, whom Washington and Islamabad have said was almost certainly killed in a drone attack.
Two days after reports emerged that he had been killed in a shootout with a rival, Taliban commander Hakimullah Mehsud contacted media organisations on Monday to say that he was "alive".Talking to Geo News channel, Hakimullah said no scuffle had occurred between him and Rehman.
Pakistani Taliban elements can be broadly divided into two groups, the 'good Taliban' and the 'bad Taliban'.'Good Taliban' are those who never target Pakistani armies and their focus remains on Afghanistan, while the 'bad Taliban' mainly attack Pakistani government installations and often seek refuge across the border.
Pakistan's most wanted terrorist Baitullah Mehsud's death may actually embolden the Pakistanis as it marks a weakening of those Taliban factions that oppose Islamabad, a leading United States private intelligence agency has said. "With more confidence in its influence over the remaining Taliban elements, Pakistan could be even less willing to sell out its Taliban assets in Afghanistan," the Stratfor said.
The United States on Friday said it would not confirm if Pakistan's most wanted terrorist Baitullah Mehsud has been killed in a missile strike but maintained that there seems to be a "growing consensus among credible observers" that the militant commander was dead.
A Jordanian suicide bomber who blew himself up at a US base in Afghanistan killing eight, including seven CIA operative, has said the 'jihadists' must carry out revenge attacks inside and outside the US to avenge the killing of Pak-Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud.
Pakistani authorities on Sunday, announced rewards for information leading to the capture, dead or alive, of 11 militant commanders, including a bounty of Rs 50 million for local Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud. According to an advertisement issued by the North West Frontier Province government, Maulvi Faqeer Muhammad, the Taliban deputy chief based in Bajaur tribal region, carries a reward of Rs 10.5 million.
Officials were quoted by TV news channels as saying that the drone fired one missile at the militant training centre located near Makeen in South Waziristan Agency, a stronghold of the militant commander Mehsud.
At least 8 people died and over 20 injured in the latest round of bomb attacks in northwest Pakistan, as a US drone strike killed 5 suspected militants in South Waziristan tribal region, considered a stronghold of Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud.
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