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Hakimullah Mehsud, Pakistan Taliban chief, killed in US drone attack: Report

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  • Hakimullah Mehsud, Pakistan Taliban chief, killed in US drone attack: Report

    ISLAMABAD: The head of the Pakistani Taliban was killed by a US drone strike in Pakistan on Friday, several security sources told Reuters, the latest in a series of blows to the country's most feared militant group.

    Hakimullah Mehsud, who was believed to be in his mid-30s and was one of Pakistan's most wanted men, has been reported dead several times before.

    But late on Friday, several intelligence, army and militant sources across Pakistan confirmed he had been killed in the drone strike in the lawless North Waziristan region.

    "We can confirm Hakimullah Mehsud was killed in the drone strike," said one senior security official.

    Mehsud's Pakistani Taliban is an umbrella of militant groups separate to but allied to the Afghan Taliban.

    Mehsud took over the Pakistani Taliban in August 2009 after a drone strike killed the previous leader, his mentor.

    Four security officials confirmed his death to Reuters. His bodyguard and driver were also among the dead, they said.

    "Among the dead, who are in large numbers, are Hakimullah's personal bodyguard Tariq Mehsud and his driver Abdullah Mehsud, two of his closest people," said one intelligence source, adding at least 25 people were killed in the strike.

    There was no official comment from the government or from the Taliban.

    Earlier, regional sources said drones had fired four missiles at a compound in Danda Darpa Khel, a village about 5 km (3 miles) from the regional capital of Miran Shah, killing at least four people.

    North Waziristan is the stronghold of the Taliban insurgency and shares a border with Afghanistan.

    The US offered $5 million for Mehsud's capture after he appeared in a farewell video with the Jordanian suicide bomber who killed seven CIA employees at a base in Afghanistan in 2009.

    US prosecutors have charged him with involvement in the attack.

    The killing is the latest in a series of setbacks for the Pakistani Taliban. A drone strike killed Mehsud's number two in May and one of his most trusted lieutenants was captured in Afghanistan last month.

    The death follows months of debate over potential peace talks between the Taliban and the new government of Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who swept to a landslide victory in May elections.

    TimesofIndia

    Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud killed in drone attack

    Wasn't he dead already? Anyway, good riddance. One more bitch smoked.
    Last edited by Oracle; 01 Nov 13,, 19:44.
    Politicians are elected to serve...far too many don't see it that way - Albany Rifles! || Loyalty to country always. Loyalty to government, when it deserves it - Mark Twain! || I am a far left millennial!

  • #2
    Yes and yes. If true, the drone programme is really paying dividends. It appears to be the key in unlocking the problem of cross border attacks.
    In the realm of spirit, seek clarity; in the material world, seek utility.

    Leibniz

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    • #3
      Now there are drones that can kill ghosts?

      OK, who verified his death the 1st time?
      No such thing as a good tax - Churchill

      To make mistakes is human. To blame someone else for your mistake, is strategic.

      Comment


      • #4
        I try not to take pleasure in anyone's death, but sometimes it's hard to resist. This guy's people killed school kids. Good riddance.

        Pak leaders have no choice but to condemn US for this, else they become the next targets of the Pak Taliban.

        BTW. hit was confirmed.
        To be Truly ignorant, Man requires an Education - Plato

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        • #5
          By hit Jad is that a firm confirmation that it is the target that is dead and not someone else. I hope this miscreant doesn't re-appear in the near future as they tend to do in that part of the world unless positively identified.

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by dave lukins View Post
            By hit Jad is that a firm confirmation that it is the target that is dead and not someone else.
            Mehsud has been reported killed several times before only to emerge alive later. But a senior Pakistani Taliban commander confirmed the killing on Friday and a fighter said on Saturday his body had been recovered from his destroyed vehicle, and was "damaged but recognizable".
            Meshud was killed as he left a meeting of Taliban leaders on the outskirts of Miran Shah. It seems to me that at least two drones participated which indicates a high degree of intelligence/confidence. You don't expend four Hellfire missiles in Waziristan on a hunch. They were probably tracking him for days and the operators knew precisely which vehicle to target. Good work.

            Reports from Miran Shah this morning say that Taliban are gathering for Meshud's funeral and that many drones (including a Global Hawk) are buzzing overhead.
            sigpic

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            • #7
              Originally posted by Minskaya View Post
              Reports from Miran Shah this morning say that Taliban are gathering for Meshud's funeral and that many drones (including a Global Hawk) are buzzing overhead.
              Now this would be too good a target to miss.

              Cheers!...on the rocks!!

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by lemontree View Post
                Now this would be too good a target to miss.
                Tempting indeed, but the Pakistani's are already screaming and threatening to close the ISAF supply corridors.
                sigpic

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                • #9
                  One Talib leader under consideration to replace Meshud is the Swat valley commander Maulana Fazlullah whose militia shot and wounded schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai last year.
                  sigpic

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                  • #10
                    Gee a Taliban leader killed right when he was about to start negotiations that will in all likelihood humiliate the government. I wonder if the timing was a coincidence.

                    Pakistan's security policies remind me of a darkly comedic tragedy, with acts of vicious violence, outrageous incompetence, shameful impotence, and conniving duplicity following so close on the heels of one another that it sometimes makes my head spin. The way it tries to play internal and external threats off one another to the ultimate benefit of no one (and especially not the Pakistani people) is vaguely reminiscent of the flailings of the Manchu Ching dynasty as it spiraled into oblivion during the last part of the 19th century.

                    Perhaps the next time when Gen. Kayani comes trick or treating in Washington for more military aid, he can come dressed up as the Empress Dowager to complete the effect.
                    Last edited by citanon; 02 Nov 13,, 11:12.

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Minskaya View Post
                      Tempting indeed, but the Pakistani's are already screaming and threatening to close the ISAF supply corridors.
                      Well there's a surprise
                      In the realm of spirit, seek clarity; in the material world, seek utility.

                      Leibniz

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Good riddance , NEXXXXXXXXXXXXT .

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by Minskaya View Post
                          One Talib leader under consideration to replace Meshud is the Swat valley commander Maulana Fazlullah whose militia shot and wounded schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai last year.
                          Khan Said ‘Sajna’ new TTP chief after Hakimullah


                          PESHAWAR: A meeting of the Pakistani Taliban's Shura (Council) on Saturday named Khan Said Sajna aka Khalid as the next chief of the banned Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan militant organisation a day after a US drone strike killed its former leader Hakimullah Mehsud in North Waziristan.

                          Most of the members of the council were present in the meeting which was held at an undisclosed location though all members could not attend it.

                          Out of 60 members attending the Shura, 43 members voted in favor of 'Sajna' whereas 17 others voted against him, militant sources told Dawn.com who added that Said's election was not confirmed by splinter groups of the militant organisation.

                          Said, who is 36, is believed to be involved in the attack on a Naval base in Karachi and is also credited with masterminding a 2012 jailbreak in which the Taliban freed 400 inmates in the northwestern city of Bannu.

                          “Sajna has no basic education, conventional or religious, but he is battle-hardened and has experience of fighting in Afghanistan,” an official had said earlier.

                          The council was considering four names for the post which included Khan Said, Umar Khalid Khurasani, Mullah Fazlullah and Ghalib Mehsud.

                          The South Waziristan Taliban chief, Khan Said Sajna alias Khalid, was tipped to succeed Hakimullah Mehsud as TTP chief.

                          Chief of Mohmand Taliban Umar Khalid Khurasani was also a strong contender for the slot as he was the only surviving senior Taliban commander who had directly commanded operations under Hakimullah.

                          Mullah Fazlullah, chief of the Swat Taliban, was another senior commander but he was unlikely to replace the assassinated TTP chief for not belonging to the Mehsud clan.

                          Hakimullah Mehsud and five other Taliban militants were killed and two others wounded on Friday when a US drone targeted the TTP chief's vehicle as he left a meeting at a mosque in Dande Darpakhel area of North Waziristan.

                          Khan Said ?Sajna? new TTP chief after Hakimullah - DAWN.COM

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                          • #14
                            Hakki bought the farm. Good ridence you POS!

                            I read a different article this morning that stated the drones attacked as soon as the vehicle he was in arrived. The article claimed that four missles struck.

                            Now, to complete this year on a positive note they need to kill #2AQ wherever that pathetic coward is hiding.
                            Last edited by Dreadnought; 02 Nov 13,, 15:08.
                            Fortitude.....The strength to persist...The courage to endure.

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                            • #15
                              Originally posted by Dreadnought View Post
                              I read a different article this morning that stated the drones attacked as soon as the vehicle he was in arrived. The article claimed that four missles struck.
                              That would indicate 3 drones. Probably one Sentinel tracker and two Predator's on location.
                              sigpic

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