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| Taliban 'confirms Mehsud's death' | Taliban 'confirms Mehsud's death' |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| The chief spokesman for the Taliban in Pakistan, who was arrested on Monday, has confirmed that the group's leader is dead, Pakistani officials have said. | The chief spokesman for the Taliban in Pakistan, who was arrested on Monday, has confirmed that the group's leader is dead, Pakistani officials have said. |
| A minister from North West Frontier Province said Maulvi Omar had stated that Baitullah Mehsud was killed in a US drone attack earlier this month. | A minister from North West Frontier Province said Maulvi Omar had stated that Baitullah Mehsud was killed in a US drone attack earlier this month. |
| The Taliban had previously denied US and Pakistani reports that he was dead. | The Taliban had previously denied US and Pakistani reports that he was dead. |
| Maulvi Omar was arrested in the Mohmand tribal area while travelling to South Waziristan, near the Afghan border. | Maulvi Omar was arrested in the Mohmand tribal area while travelling to South Waziristan, near the Afghan border. |
| Mr Omar was the second prominent Taliban figure to be arrested in 24 hours. | |
| We will catch them all. All Taliban will have to face the same fate Mian Iftikhar Hussain, North West Frontier Province minister | |
| Qari Saifullah, a commander affiliated to Harkat Jihad-e-Islami, was detained while being treated at a private hospital in Islamabad, officials said, reportedly after being wounded in a missile strike. | |
| Both men are still being questioned about their possible roles in militant attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan, police said. | |
| Interrogation | |
| Maulvi Omar was captured along with two associates in the village of Khawazeo in Mohmand on Monday night. Local tribal elders reportedly assisted the security forces. | |
| Mr Omar comes from Bajaur, a tribal area in the North West where the Taliban established themselves early on. | |
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| Footage reportedly showing Maulvi Omar being arrested | |
| He was the official spokesman for Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), an umbrella organisation of regional and tribal-based Pakistani militant groups, and is said to have been a senior aide of Baitullah Mehsud. | |
| Correspondents say his arrest is significant because Mr Omar had been acting as a liaison between the various Taliban groups and was a key figure in the Taliban's propaganda campaigns. | |
| After his arrest, he was questioned by intelligence officials. | |
| "Maulvi Omar has confirmed the death of Baitullah during interrogation," North West Frontier Province's Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain told AFP news agency. | |
| "We will catch them all. All Taliban will have to face the same fate," he added. | |
| Maulvi Omar was photographed in detention in Peshawar | |
| Pakistani and US officials have said that Mehsud was killed - along with one of his wives - in a US missile strike on his father-in-law's house in the Zangarha area, north-east of Ladha, on 5 August. | Pakistani and US officials have said that Mehsud was killed - along with one of his wives - in a US missile strike on his father-in-law's house in the Zangarha area, north-east of Ladha, on 5 August. |
| Two days' later, a shoot-out broke out between Mehsud's potential successors in Waziristan in which one of them was killed, they say. | |
| Despite both sides' declarations, there has been no proof from the Taliban that Mehsud is alive or from the government that he is dead. | Despite both sides' declarations, there has been no proof from the Taliban that Mehsud is alive or from the government that he is dead. |
| Believed to command as many as 20,000 pro-Taliban militants, Mehsud came to worldwide attention in the aftermath of the 2007 Red Mosque siege in Islamabad - in which the security forces confronted and forcibly ejected militant students loyal to him. | Believed to command as many as 20,000 pro-Taliban militants, Mehsud came to worldwide attention in the aftermath of the 2007 Red Mosque siege in Islamabad - in which the security forces confronted and forcibly ejected militant students loyal to him. |
| He has been blamed by both Pakistan and the US for a series of suicide bomb attacks in the country, as well as suicide attacks on Western forces across the border in Afghanistan. | He has been blamed by both Pakistan and the US for a series of suicide bomb attacks in the country, as well as suicide attacks on Western forces across the border in Afghanistan. |
| The BBC's Aleem Maqbool in Islamabad says Pakistani ministers are confident the Taliban is under serious pressure and that its remaining leadership is in disarray. | |
| But, our correspondent says, the militant infrastructure here has been built up over decades and the underlying problems which feed it - poverty and inequality - remain. | |
| Are you in the area? How important is this development? Are you affected by the issues in this story? Send us your comments using the form below. | Are you in the area? How important is this development? Are you affected by the issues in this story? Send us your comments using the form below. |
| The BBC may edit your comments and not all emails will be published. Your comments may be published on any BBC media worldwide. Terms & Conditions | The BBC may edit your comments and not all emails will be published. Your comments may be published on any BBC media worldwide. Terms & Conditions |