Mehsud’s death confirmed
PESHAWAR.February 11. KAZINFORM Pakistani Taleban chief Hakimullah Mehsud has died, the country's top civilian security official told The Associated Press on Wednesday; Kazinform refers to the Arab News.
It was the government's first categorical confirmation of the death of the feared militant, whose passing is likely to weaken, but not vanquish, the Al-Qaeda-linked insurgent network he led.
In a sign of the continued militant threat, a suicide bomber attacked a vehicle carrying tribal police near Pakistan's volatile border with Afghanistan, killing 19 people, including 11 policemen, said a local government official.
Reports of Mehsud's death emerged after a spate of US missiles hit his stronghold in Pakistan's northwestern tribal belt in mid-January. Mehsud was said to have died of wounds suffered in one of the strikes in the Waziristan region.
In a response to an AP query, Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik, wrote, "Yes, he is dead." A senior intelligence official concurred separately. Neither gave details as to when or how the militant died.
In late January, a tribal elder told the Associated Press that he attended Mehsud's funeral in the Mamuzai area of the Orakzai tribal region after Mehsud died at his in-laws' home; Kazinform cites the Arab News.
See www.arabnews.com for full version