The most wanted Pak Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud, Emir Sahib to his followers, was killed in a missile attack on his native Zangar village in South Waziristan on Wednesday, Aug 5, 2009.
Initial reports said that one of his wives was killed when a missile fired by an American drone hit the house of his father –in-law. But now it is confirmed that the black bearded, slow talking Mehsud was also present at the house and he has been killed, according to Shah Mahmood Qureshi, the Pakistan foreign minister.
35-year-old Mehsud was getting an intravenous drip on the roof of the house when the attack took place. He was known to suffer from a kidney ailment. One of his brothers-in-law and several of his associates were also killed in what is being described as a precision attack.
Mehsud’s death is a deadly blow to the Taleban but it is too early to say how big the blow is going to be. The militant are known to quickly set their house in order and pose continued threat though at least for the present the initiative has slipped out of their hands. To what extent the West stands to gain from the death will largely depend on how effectively the Pakistan military moved in at the ground level to cement advantage that dropped from the air.
Like most-Taliban leaders, Mehsud is also not highly educated. He was at best a ‘semi-literate’. Ruthless, shrewd, above all highly religious, Mehsud emerged on the scene in 2007 by bringing together as many as 13 splinter groups and converted the lawless tribal frontier region into a secure base for the Pakistan Taliban and a shelter home for the foreign elements of al –Qaeda. Mehsud network is estimated to have some 20,000 fighters.
Mehsud had been repeatedly targeted by US drones in recent months. In June, for instance, a missile was dropped on the funeral of a senior commander he was said to be attending. But he had left the place minutes before the missile attack.
Mehsud carried a price of $5million on his head. Hakimullah Mehsud, who commands Taliban militants in Orakzai, Khyber and Kurram regions, is likely to succeed him. Hakimullah has his own militia of some 8000 fighters.
