Taliban confirms Mehsud’s death

August 25, 2009 09:53 pm | Updated November 17, 2021 06:56 am IST - ISLAMABAD

After more than two weeks of insisting that their leader Beithullah Mehsud was alive, the Pakistani Taliban’s second line commanders have now finally confirmed that he was killed in a U.S. missile strike earlier this month.

Hakeemullah Mehsud and Waliur Rehman, who were all this while reported to be vying for the leadership of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan after the August 5 killing of Beithullah Mehsud, separately called the BBC and Associated Press and said their leader was dead.

Waliur Rehman confirmed that Hakeemullah Mehsud, a militant commander in his 20s, was the chosen successor to Beithullah.

Contrary to earlier reports that he had fallen out with Hakeemullah in the succession stakes, Waliur Rehman offered that he had no differences with the new leader of the TTP.

Hakeemullah is said to have a following in the Kurram, Orakzai and Khyber agencies.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.