{"id":365,"date":"2009-08-06T20:19:39","date_gmt":"2009-08-07T03:19:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/the-war-diaries.com\/?p=365"},"modified":"2009-08-06T20:19:39","modified_gmt":"2009-08-07T03:19:39","slug":"baitullah-mehsud-dead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/the-war-diaries.com\/?p=365","title":{"rendered":"Baitullah Mehsud Dead?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pakistani English-language newspaper Dawn<\/a> is reporting on the possible death of Baitullah Mehsud in Wednesday’s missile strike which is believed to have killed one of his wives. Mehsud’s demise would mean an uncertain fate for the future of the TTP in South Waziristan and it is not clear whether he would have a successor. Of course it has been rumoured that Mehsud has been dead before so we’ll have to wait and see on this one.<\/p>\n

Here is the full text of the article: ”<\/p>\n

ISLAMABAD: There is a strong likelihood that Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud was killed along with his wife and bodyguards in a missile attack two days ago, Interior Minister Rehman Malik told Reuters.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2018We suspect he was killed in the missile strike,\u2019 Malik said on Friday. \u2018We have some information, but we don’t have material evidence to confirm it.\u2019\u00a0Meanwhile, Director General ISPR Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas cautioned that the reports of Mehsud’s death are still unconfirmed. \u2018We are receiving reports and probing,\u2019 he said.\u00a0ABC News cited a senior US official as saying there was a 95 per cent chance that Mehsud was among those killed in the missile strike.\u00a0US officials have visual and other indicators it was Mehsud and Pakistanis are now trying to collect physical evidence to be certain, ABC reported.\u00a0A US official also told Reuters that there was reason to believe Mehsud was dead.\u00a0\u2018There is reason to believe that reports of his death may be true, but it can’t be confirmed at this time,\u2019 said the official, providing the information on condition of anonymity.\u00a0The official would not comment on the circumstances surrounding Mehsud’s possible death.<\/p>\n

RUMOURS PERSISTED<\/strong>
A relative of Mehsud’s dead wife had initially said the Taliban leader wasn’t present when the missiles struck, but rumours that he had either been wounded or killed refused to die down.\u00a0The stricken house is some two hours’ walk from Makeen, and Taliban fighters had cordoned off the area, refusing to let people enter, according to villagers.\u00a0A senior Pakistani security official said that aside from Mehsud’s wife, one of Mehsud’s brothers and seven of his bodyguards perished in the attack.\u00a0The official said intelligence services were trying to discover the identity of another victim, and there was a good chance it was Mehsud.\u00a0Intelligence agents had also picked up signs that leaders of various Taliban factions planned to gather for a shura, or council meeting, somewhere in Waziristan later on Friday.\u2014Reuters”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pakistani English-language newspaper Dawn is reporting on the possible death of Baitullah Mehsud in Wednesday’s missile strike which is believed to have killed one of his wives. Mehsud’s demise would mean an uncertain fate for the future of the TTP…<\/p>\n

Read more →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,29,27,4,3,17],"tags":[60],"class_list":["post-365","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-afghanistan","category-fata","category-nwfp","category-pakistan","category-south-asia","category-taleban","tag-baitullah-mehsud-dead"],"yoast_head":"\nBaitullah Mehsud Dead? - The War Diaries<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/the-war-diaries.com\/?p=365\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Baitullah Mehsud Dead? - The War Diaries\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Pakistani English-language newspaper Dawn is reporting on the possible death of Baitullah Mehsud in Wednesday’s missile strike which is believed to have killed one of his wives. 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