Hakimullah Mehsud reported killed in drone attack

Pakistan

Hakimullah Mehsud reported killed in drone attack

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Taliban commander Hakimullah Mehsud has reportedly been killed, said a foreign news agency.

15 January,2012 07:32 pm

Intercepted militant radio communications indicate leader of Pakistani Taliban may have been killed in a recent US drone strike, AP quoted Pakistani intelligence officials as saying on Sunday.A Taliban official denied that.The claim that the Pakistani Taliban chief was killed came from officials who said they intercepted a number of Taliban radio conversations. In about a half a dozen intercepts, the militants discussed whether their chief, Hakimullah Mehsud, was killed on Jan 12 in the North Waziristan tribal area. Some militants confirmed Mehsud was dead, and one criticized others for talking about the issue over the radio.The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to talk to reporters.Pakistani Taliban spokesman Asimullah Mehsud denied the groups leader was killed and said he was not in the area where the drone strike occurred.In early 2010, both Pakistani and American officials said they believed a missile strike had killed Hakimullah Mehsud along the border of North and South Waziristan. They were proved wrong when videos appeared showing him still alive.The Taliban are linked to attacks against U.S. targets. They trained the Pakistani-American who tried to detonate a car bomb in New York Citys Times Square in 2010 and is tied to a suicide bombing that killed seven CIA agents at an Afghan base in 2009.