US drone strike kills head of Pakistani Taliban

The head of the Pakistani Taliban, Hakimullah Mehsud, was killed by a US drone strike on Friday, Pakistani intelligence officials told Reuters anonymously. Senior sources within the militant group confirmed the death. “We can confirm, Hakimullah Mehsud was killed in the drone strike,” one senior security official told Reuters. Agents sent to the site of the attack in North Waziristan region identified Hakimullah Mehsud as one of the killed, said the sources, who wished to remain unnamed as they were not authorized to talk to the media. According to another intelligence source, the Taliban leader’s funeral has already been scheduled for Saturday, and will take place in the main regional city of Miranshah. At least three people were killed in what is believed to be a US drone strike on the tribal region’s village of Dande Derpa Khel, AP reported quoting intelligence officials. Reuters sources have, however, put the number of drone strike victims at 25, saying that the chief’s closest men were also killed. “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,” the agency was told. A house was destroyed by the strike in the village, which is said to be the stronghold of the Haqqani network. The Islamist insurgent network is known for routinely targeting NATO troops in neighboring Afghanistan. Mehsud, one of Pakistan’s most wanted men believed to be in his mid-30s, has been reported dead several times before. He took over the Pakistani Taliban in August 2009 after a drone strike killed the previous militant leader, his mentor.