Aide Says Pakistan Taliban Leader Baitullah Mehsud Is Dead

[sabra]

Source: ABC News

Pakistani Intelligence Officials Tell ABC News That Mehsud Was Killed in a CIA Strike

Pakistan's most wanted man, Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud was killed in a CIA drone strike Wednesday morning, according to U.S., Pakistani, and Taliban officials, although some warned that his death would not be confirmed for days.

Mehsud was responsible for more than 1,200 deaths in Pakistan in the last two years, according to Pakistani officials, and was the center of a terrorist nexus that allowed al Qaeda, Taliban and jihadi militants to work together to attack both Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Local media reported that the Taliban had buried Mehsud and already had a meeting to begin choosing his successor.

Mehsud and his wife were on the roof of Mehsud's father-in-law's house in Makeen, South Waziristan, when the rocket struck, Pakistani and U.S. officials said. His wife was rubbing his diabetes-ravaged legs around 1 a.m. when they were killed. Makeen is Mehsud's birthplace, and a town he is said to occasionally visit.

"The news about Baitullah Mehsud's death is correct, according to my intelligence sources," Pakistani foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi told reporters in Islamabad today. "We are verifying this news and waiting for results of a ground verification to confirm 100 percent. However, according to my sources, this news is correct and he has been taken out."

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=8273644&page=1

[montanto]

1. Great news!!

Eight years, a trillion dollars, and ??? innocents killed later, we blasted some guy that counts.

[maxsolomon]

2. i don't trust a thing the ISI says.

they've already buried him? i know that you're supposed to have a muslim in the ground by sunset, but this leaves no way to confirm his death. he could be in the hills hiding out just as easily.

[ohio2007]

3. They also got his #2 wife. Meanwhile, wife #1,3 and 4 may be in a bad situation

according to sharia law, they may become 'targets of opportunity'.
What a country, what a system of beliefs

[Turbineguy]

4. Father-in Law comment I'd like to see

"No problem. It's insured!"

[ohio2007]

7. Thats because his own sons work for GEICO

http://o.aolcdn.com/dims/SEAR/11/200/-/-/

[tabasco]

5. Outstanding!

We need to get the hell OUT OF IRAQ and continue to focus on our ENEMIES, like this former asshole, Mehsud.

Burn in hell, asshole.

[ohio2007]

6. CNN: he had quite the resume of anti government attacks

Had a hand in killing Bhutto,Marriott hotel bombing,killing Pak police/soldiers,women and children, links to killing "Cross worshipers" and boasted of having hundreds of "suicide fighters" ready to cross over into Afghanistan



http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=f5f_1249703748

Pak officials wanted more control and a greater "say" in where drones would strike. Most likely, this drone strike was launched from inside Pakistan at a Pak air base.

After the big funeral that took place hours after the strike, I'm sure the taliban nominated the next #2 to fill his sandals as well as planning honor killings for those that "sold him out".


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7g0RLyxP13o

jmo

[varun]

8. Some reports are now saying

That he is alive.

Cant trust the ISI...

[muriel_volestrangler]

9. Close associate: Pakistan Taliban chief 'not dead'

A close associate of Pakistan's most wanted man, Baitullah Mehsud, who was reportedly killed in a US drone attack, has told the BBC he is alive.

Commander Hakimullah Mehsud said reports of the Taliban leader's death three days ago in an attack on a house in South Waziristan were "ridiculous".
...
"We know what our enemies want to achieve - it's the joint policy of the ISI and FBI - they want our chief to come out in the open so they can achieve their target."

He said the Pakistani leader had decided to adopt the tactics of Osama bin Laden and stay silent. He said he would issue a message in the next few days.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/8191105.stm

Hmm. Wait for that message, and see how much it convinces those familiar with him, I think.

[ohio2007]

10. Baitullah's replacement was killed at shura meeting that was deciding who his replacement would be

They're running out of # 3's before they are appointed to the # 2 spot. It's a pretty twisted web as the paranoia spreads.

GEO Pakistan
Hakimullah Mehsud killed in armed clash: sources


Updated at: 2120 PST, Saturday, August 08, 2009
SOUTH WAZIRISTAN: Spokesman of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan Hakimullah Mehsud and another Taliban leader Wali-ur-Rehman have been killed in an armed clash erupted during the Tehreek’s Shura meeting, Geo TV reported Saturday.

At the meeting Hakimullah Mehsud was appointed as TTP Chief after the reported killing of Baitullah Mehsud, the state media reported.

The agenda of the meeting was to appoint successor of Baitullah Mehsud, sources said.


http://www.geo.tv/8-8-2009/47300.htm

alla frowns in discust with the collapse of the rank and file

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOrgLj9lOwk&feature=related

[ohio2007]

11. 'Time to Strike': Taliban in Disarray After Shootout Allegedly Claims Two Successors

'Time to Strike': Taliban in Disarray After Shootout Allegedly Claims Two Successors


Three days after a CIA drone strike killed the head of the Taliban in Pakistan, his two most likely successors apparently killed each other when they opened fire at a meeting to decide the next commander, according to initial reports provided to Pakistani intelligence officials.

Hakimullah and Wali Ur Rehman were both killed, a senior military official said, during a shootout in South Waziristan. The two were attending a tribal meeting, or shura, designed to choose the successor of Taliban in Pakistan chief Baitullah Mehsud, who was killed early Wednesday morning.

The incident could throw a Taliban already suffering from internal clashes into disarray. It also eliminated the two most popular choices to lead the group responsible for the worst terrorist attacks in the country's history. But the Taliban denied that the incident took place and Rehman Malik, the country's interior minister, told local television channels that he believed only one of the two commanders died in the gun battle. Either way, the infighting is a direct result of the most significant strike on a militant commander in years.

Publicly, the Pakistani government has criticized the strikes from unmanned aerial drones, such as the one that killed Mehsud. But privately they have provided significantly expanded intelligence ....

snip





http://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=8285243&page=1

[ohio2007]

12. Seventy killed as Baitullah, Bhittani supporters clash

TANK: Fierce clashes broke out between supporters of Baitullah Mehsud and rival Turkistan Bhittani in the Frontier Region of Jandola on Wednesday and each side claimed inflicting heavy casualties on the other.

According to sources, militants loyal to Baitullah attacked Bhittani’s men in Soor Gher area and torched 33 houses. They said seven supporters of Bhittani were killed and 15 were captured.Meanwhile, Bhittani’s men claimed to have killed over 50 attackers. According to AP, at least 70 fighters were killed in the clash. Two intelligence officials said militants used rockets, mortars and anti-aircraft guns against Turkistan’s men. The officials, who cited wireless intercepts from the area, confirmed at least 70 people had been killed.

Bhittani said 90 fighters were killed and more than 40 houses were destroyed.

There was no way to independently confirm the death toll, as the fighting was taking place in a remote, mountainous area that is off-limits to journalists.

A senior official confirmed the clash but did not give details about casualties. ‘The local administration has no writ in the area and we have no information about the number of casualties,’ he added. Meanwhile, a BBC Urdu report said that as clashes escalated, spreading to various areas, helicopter gunships could be seen flying over the region. Helicopter gunships subsequently targeted three vehicles in use of Baitullah Mehsud's fighters. At least 15 men travelling in those vehicles were killed, the BBC report said.

Commander Bhittani, who enjoys the backing of the government, has emerged as the main challenger to the Baitullah group in Tank and Jandola. The sources said the Bhittani group had eliminated the Baitullah group in Tank city and adjacent areas.

http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/11-militant-clashes-kill-at-least-70-in-nw-pakistan--il--08

[ohio2007]

13. Signs of Taliban rift hearten Pakistan, U.S

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – U.S. and Pakistani officials meeting on Sunday said they were heartened by signs of a rift between Pakistani Taliban factions after the apparent death of militant leader Baitullah Mehsud.Mehsud was the overall head of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a loose confederation of 13 factions. He is believed to have been killed in a U.S. missile strike on August 5.

"I can say that since Baitullah Mehsud, there's confusion, there's disarray and there's a lot of reports of infighting within the TTP," Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi told a joint news conference with Richard Holbrooke, the U.S. special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Before arriving in Islamabad late on Saturday, Holbrooke told reporters traveling with him; "Baitullah Mehsud is gone and it looks like there is a struggle for succession among his commanders."

On Saturday night, fighters from a rival, less anti-government faction, led by Maulvi Nazir Wazir, were ambushed and 17 were killed.An intelligence official and a spokesman for Maulvi Nazir's group blamed the Mehsud group. "They were hiding behind the rocks and as soon as our people reached there, they opened fire. It was so sudden and quick that none of our men fired back," Shaheen Wazir, Nazir's spokesman, told Reuters by telephone.

A spokesman for the Mehsud group denied responsibility. Taliban officials have also denied Mehsud is dead, without offering proof that he is alive.

snip

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090816/ts_nm/us_pakistan_militants_2

[ohio2007]

14. It's official, Talibans own "Bahgdad Bob" comes clean,admits the big dog got snuffed as he himself

was also injured in the same attack

Arrest of two top aides of Mehsud 'significant success'

Islamabad, Aug 18 (PTI) Pakistani security forces have scored a significant success in their drive against the Taliban by apprehending two close aides of militant commander Baitullah Mehsud, weeks after the feared warlord was reportedly killed in a US missile strike, officials said today.

The top spokesman of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, Maulvi Omar, for whom the government had offered a reward of Rs 10 million, was captured with his accomplices Wahid Gul and Hameedullah in the Mohmand tribal region bordering Afghanistan last night.

Saifullah, another close aide of Mehsud who acted as a mediator between the Taliban and al-Qaeda, was arrested with his aide Zahid Akram at Bhara Kahu on the outskirts of Islamabad last night.

Saifullah had come to the federal capital for treatment after reportedly being injured in a drone attack.
Omar, who claimed responsibility on behalf of the Taliban for dozens of suicide attacks and bombings over the past two years, was captured in Khwazai area by Mohmand Rifles personnel and members of a local lashkar or tribal militia, officials were quoted as saying by state-run APP news agency. He was flown in a military helicopter from Ghalanai, the main town in Mohmand Agency, to Peshawar to be interrogated by officials of security and intelligence agencies.
http://in.news.yahoo.com/20/20090818/365/twl-arrest-of-two-top-aides-of-mehsud-si.html

He was interrogated.... maybe he is only telling them what they want to hear while being interrogated and or Inquisitioned ?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOrgLj9lOwk&feature=related