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Stream of Reports Say Pakistani Taliban Leader Died in Drone Strike Drones Said to Kill Pakistan’s Taliban Leader
(about 3 hours later)
LONDON — An American drone strike killed the leader of the Pakistani Taliban, Hakimullah Mehsud, on Friday, according to Pakistani intelligence officials and militant commanders in the tribal belt. LONDON — American drones on Friday killed the leader of the Pakistani Taliban, dealing a major blow to a militant group that has terrorized Pakistan and that tried to set off a car bomb in New York City in 2010, according to Pakistani intelligence officials and militant commanders in the tribal belt.
If confirmed, his death would be a major achievement for the covert C.I.A. program at a time when drones have come under renewed scrutiny over civilian casualties in both Pakistan and the United States. The death of the leader, Hakimullah Mehsud, represents a signal achievement for the covert C.I.A. program at a time when drones themselves have come under fire from human rights groups and other critics in Pakistan and the United States over the issue of civilian casualties.
It would also offer relief to many Pakistanis. Under Mr. Mehsud’s leadership the Pakistani Taliban – a group that is related to the Afghan Taliban, but which operates independently – has killed thousands in Pakistan, mostly through suicide bombings. Mr. Mehsud, a showy and ruthless leader, had a $5 million United States government bounty on his head. While prior reports of Mr. Mehsud’s death have proved false — ultimately serving only to burnish his credentials as an untouchable renegade — within hours there was a strong sense from multiple sources, including an American defense official, that this time he had not escaped.
While prior reports of his death have proved false, there was a proliferation of accounts of his death on Friday from multiple sources, including the militants and an American military official, within hours of the missile attack. “Hakimullah has been martyred,” said a local Taliban commander, speaking by phone from the tribal belt on condition of anonymity. Pakistani officials backed up that assessment.
“Hakimullah has been martyred,” said a local Taliban commander, speaking by phone from the tribal belt on condition of anonymity. The death offered relief to many Pakistanis. In recent years the Pakistani Taliban — which is related to, but operates independently of the Afghan Taliban — has killed thousands of people, mostly through suicide bombings.
The White House and the C.I.A. declined to comment. But an American defense official with knowledge of the strike said the United States was confident of Mr. Mehsud’s demise. It has drawn the Pakistani Army into a grinding conflict in the tribal belt, and destabilized the rest of the country through a relentless campaign of violence.
The Americans tracking Mr. Mehsud were “nearly certain” of his location ahead of the strike, the American official said, and collected intelligence afterwards that led them to conclude he was dead. To the C.I.A., the demise of Mr. Mehsud, a showy man in his mid-30s with a flair for publicity as well as bloodshed, represents payback of sorts.
The television network Al Jazeera quoted the Taliban spokesman Shahidullah Shahid as confirming Mr. Mehsud’s death. He orchestrated a suicide attack on a spy base in eastern Afghanistan in 2009 that killed seven American C.I.A. agents, and later trained Faisal Shahzad, a Pakistani-American who tried to attack Times Square in May 2010.
The C.I.A. killed Mr. Mehsud’s predecessor, Baitullah Mehsud, in South Waziristan tribal agency in August 2009. Friday’s strike occurred in Danday Darpakhel, a well-known militant stronghold in North Waziristan tribal agency, near the Afghan border. Mr. Mehsud had a $5 million United States government bounty on his head. But Mr. Mehsud’s death also comes at a sensitive time. Just last week Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of Pakistan, who strenuously opposes drone strikes, met with President Obama at the White House to express that opposition. Mr. Sharif’s controversial plans to engage in peace talks with the Pakistani Taliban have also been thrown into disarray — and possibly rendered redundant — by Friday’s attack. Instead, enraged Taliban commanders have vowed to repay Mr. Mehsud’s killing in bloodshed. “Our revenge will be unprecedented,” Abu Omar, a Taliban commander in North Waziristan, said by phone on Friday.
Pakistani officials said that C.I.A.-operated drones fired at least four missiles at compound that had been built for Mr. Mehsud about a year ago, and which he had used intermittently since then. Mr. Omar said he considered the Pakistani government “fully complicit” in the drone strike. “We know our enemy very well,” he said.
One Pakistani official, citing intelligence reports, said five militants had been killed including Mr. Mehsud, his uncle and a bodyguard. Another two people were wounded. Friday’s strike occurred in a Danday Darpa Khel, a small village and well-known militant stronghold in the North Waziristan tribal agency, near the Afghan border.
The Pakistani official said the drone strike also killed Mr. Mehsud’s deputy, Abdullah Behar, who had just taken over from Latif Mahsud, a militant commander who was detained by American forces in Afghanistan last month. Pakistani officials said that C.I.A.-operated drones fired at least four missiles at a compound that had been built for Mr. Mehsud about a year ago, and that he had used intermittently since then.
Tribesmen said they planned to bury Mr. Mehsud on Saturday, when the prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, is due to return to Pakistan from London, where he has been holding talks with British officials and the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai. One Pakistani official, citing intelligence reports, said besides Mr. Mehsud, three other people were killed in Friday’s attack, including Mr. Mehsud’s uncle and a bodyguard. Two other people were wounded. The Pakistani official said that Abdullah Behar, Mr. Mehsud’s deputy, also died in the strike. Mr. Behar had just taken over from Latif Mehsud, a militant commander who was detained by American forces in Afghanistan last month.
His death could also throw into disarray controversial plans by Mr. Sharif’s government to engage in peace talks with the Pakistani Taliban. Caitlin M. Hayden, a White House spokeswoman, said in a written statement that the Obama administration was not in a position to confirm reports of Mr. Mehsud’s death. But if true “this would be serious loss for the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP),” the statement said, using the official title of the Pakistani Taliban.
A delegation of three clerics from Punjab province that had been handpicked by Mr. Sharif had been due to travel to the tribal belt on Saturday to initiate talks with the Pakistani Taliban and two other militant groups. The group had now been stopped from proceeding, a senior security official said. And while the C.I.A. declined to comment, an American defense official with knowledge of the strike said the United States was confident that Mr. Mehsud was dead.
Mr. Mehsud’s death would also represent payback, of sorts, for the C.I.A.: Mr. Mehsud orchestrated a major suicide bombing against a C.I.A. base in eastern Afghanistan in 2009 that killed seven Americans and two other people. The Americans tracking Mr. Mehsud were “nearly certain” of his location ahead of the strike, the American official said, and collected intelligence afterward that led them to conclude he was dead.
Shortly after that attack, Mr. Mehsud appeared in a triumphant pre-recorded video with the suicide bomber, a Jordanian doctor named Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi. In the weeks that followed, the C.I.A. launched a flurry of drone attacks, one of which was initially reported to have killed Mr. Mehsud. Tribesmen said they planned to bury Mr. Mehsud on Saturday, when Mr. Sharif is scheduled to return to Pakistan from London, where he has been holding talks with British officials and the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai.
The reports of Mr. Mehsud’s death on Friday met an uneasy welcome across Pakistan. Elsewhere in Pakistan, Reports of Mr. Mehsud’s death met an uneasy welcome.
Some celebrated the demise of a ruthless militant responsible for much suffering, and who had evaded long-standing Pakistani efforts to capture or kill him. Some celebrated the demise of a ruthless militant responsible for much suffering, and who had evaded longstanding Pakistani efforts to capture or kill him.
“All peace loving Pakistanis should be satisfied that a monster who had unleashed terror in Pakistan and elsewhere is dead,” said Pervez Musharraf, the former military leader, who is under house arrest. “All peace-loving Pakistanis should be satisfied that a monster who had unleashed terror in Pakistan and elsewhere is dead,” said Pervez Musharraf, the former military leader, who is under house arrest.
But the interior minister, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, described the American action as a calculated blow against the fledgling peace process. And on the heated television chat-shows, where public opinion is shaped, conservative politicians stridently condemned the strike. But the interior minister, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, described the American action as a calculated blow against the fledgling peace process.
Imran Khan, the former cricketer whose party rules Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, said he would seek to block NATO supply lines in retaliation; one of his deputies called for the Pakistani military to attack American drones. A delegation of three clerics from Punjab Province whom Mr. Sharif handpicked had been scheduled to travel to the tribal belt on Saturday to begin talks with the Pakistani Taliban and two other militant groups. The group had now been stopped from proceeding, a senior security official said.
“Now, one thing is proven,” said Mr. Khan in a television interview. “Whenever Pakistan has attempted talks, drone attacks have sabotaged them.” And on the heated television talk shows, where public opinion is shaped, conservative politicians vigorously condemned the strike.
Others Pakistanis feared a violent backlash led by militants carrying out suicide attacks across the country. Those fears were borne out in comments by one commander in the tribal belt. Imran Khan, the former cricket player whose party rules Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province, said he would seek to block NATO supply lines in retaliation; one of his deputies called for the Pakistani military to attack American drones. “Now, one thing is proven,” Mr. Khan said in a television interview. “Whenever Pakistan has attempted talks, drone attacks have sabotaged them.”
“Our revenge will be unprecedented,” said Abu Omar, a Taliban commander in Miram Shah, speaking by phone. Mr. Omar said he considered the Pakistani government “fully complicit” in the drone strike. “We know our enemy very well,” he said. On Twitter, Bilawal Bhutto, a leader of the opposition Pakistan People’s Party, mocked Mr. Khan’s stance, telling him he was “so sorry for your loss.”
Seth Jones, a militancy expert at the Rand Corporation in Washington, said he expected the group to react violently, noting that it hatched the May 2010 plot to explode a truck bomb in Times Square after the death of its previous leader, Baitullah Mehsud. Many ordinary Pakistanis, however, voiced fears of a violent backlash led by militants carrying out suicide attacks across the country. Seth Jones, a militancy expert at the RAND Corporation in Washington, said such a reaction was likely.
Mr. Mehsud’s death is a blow to the Pakistani Taliban, Mr. Jones said, but the group — formally known as Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan — is more than capable of replacing him. He noted that just after the C.I.A. killed the Taliban’s previous leader, Baitullah Mehsud, in August 2009, the group then hatched the plot to explode a bomb in Times Square.
“This won’t be lethal for the T.T.P.,” he said. While Mr. Mehsud’s death is a serious blow to the Pakistani Taliban, Mr. Jones said, this time it is more than able to replace him. “This won’t be lethal for the TTP,” he said.
Friday’s drone strike comes just over a week after Mr. Sharif met with President Obama in the White House. Although the Pakistani leadership regularly condemns drone attacks, a growing body of evidence suggests that they have quietly cooperated with at least some drone strikes over the years. Although the Pakistani leadership regularly condemns drone attacks, a growing body of evidence suggests that they have quietly cooperated with at least some strikes over the years.
Still, after the strike on Friday, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry issued a pro-forma condemnation, employing the usual language about the American action’s being a violation of Pakistan’s “sovereignty and territorial integrity.” Still, after the strike on Friday, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry issued a pro forma condemnation, employing the usual language about the American action’s being a violation of Pakistan’s “sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
Hours before the strike, three American congressmen and the American ambassador to Pakistan, Richard Olson, met with Sartaj Aziz, the prime minister’s adviser on national security and foreign affairs, in Islamabad. Hours before the strike, three American congressmen and the American ambassador to Pakistan, Richard G. Olson, met with Sartaj Aziz, the prime minister’s adviser on national security and foreign affairs, in Islamabad.
In a statement, the Foreign Ministry said that Mr. Aziz had “expressed satisfaction at the upward trajectory in bilateral relations between Pakistan and the United States.” In a statement, the Foreign Ministry said Mr. Aziz had “expressed satisfaction at the upward trajectory in bilateral relations between Pakistan and the United States.”

Declan Walsh reported from London, Ishanullah Tipu Mehsud from Islamabad, and Ismail Khan from Peshawar, Pakistan. Mark Mazzetti contributed reporting from Washington, Matthew Rosenberg from Kabul and Salman Masood from Islamabad.

Declan Walsh reported from London; Ihsanullah Tipu Mehsud from Islamabad, Pakistan; and Ismail Khan from Peshawar, Pakistan. Mark Mazzetti contributed reporting from Washington, Matthew Rosenberg from Kabul, Afghanistan, and Salman Masood from Islamabad.