PESHAWAR, Pakistan – The US said yesterday the evidence was “pretty conclusive” that Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud is dead, while a senior Taliban commander denied reports of infighting among its leaders.
The White House had earlier said it could not confirm the Pakistan government’s claims that Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud had been killed by a CIA drone.
But asked yesterday if Baitullah had been killed in the attack, national security adviser Jim Jones told NBC’s Meet the Press: “We think so. We put it in the 90 per cent category. We know that there are some reports now from the Mehsud tribe that he wasn’t [killed], but the evidence is pretty conclusive.” The comments add to a volley of unverifiable claims and counter-claims by the Pakistani government and the Taliban that have surrounded the reported death of Mehsud last Wednesday.
Western governments with troops in Afghanistan are watching to see if any new Pakistani Taliban leader would shift focus from fighting the Pakistani government and put the movement’s weight behind the Afghan insurgency led by Mullah Mohammad Omar.
Taliban commanders have said the government is fabricating reports of dissent within its ranks to promote division and undermine the movement.
Taliban commander Wali-ur-Rehman earlier yesterday denied reports he had been involved in a shootout with a rival for the Pakistani Taliban leadership, Hakimullah Mehsud. Wali-ur-Rehman also denied that any tribal council meeting, or shura, had taken place to decide on a successor to Baitullah.
“There are no differences. There was no fighting. We both are alive, and there was no special shura meeting,” he said.
Hakimullah would call journalists soon to prove he too was alive, Rehman said.
“He definitely will call you and tell you everything,” he said.
Asked about Wali-ur-Rehman’s comments, an intelligence officer in the region, who declined to identified, said: “He’s just making it up. The shootout took place and some wounded were shifted to North Waziristan.”
Hakimullah Mehsud had earlier denied that Baitullah Mehsud was killed by the US drone strike in the first place. Baitullah’s deputy, Noor Said, said a video would soon be released to prove that Baitullah was still alive.
But Pakistani military spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas said he was “quite certain” Baitullah was dead. “The problem is we don’t have material evidence and that won’t be available for quite some time because obviously it’s a remote and inaccessible area.” – (Reuters)