US Missiles Kill 8 Militants in Pakistan

Militants regroup further north in a different district

(NEWSER) - Good news from Pakistan's prime minister in the fight against the Taliban—the army has driven the militants from South Waziristan after a 3-month campaign. The bad news: The Taliban appear to have regrouped a little further north in a district called Orakza, reports BBC . "The operation in South Waziristan is over," said Yousuf Raza Gilani. "Now there are talks about Orakza." More»

Predators offer intel on militant positions in South Waziristan

(NEWSER) - The US military is supporting the Pakistani offensive against Taliban militants in South Waziristan with intelligence and imaging collected by unmanned Predator drones. The support is separate from the CIA program using the drones inside Pakistan to kill terrorist leaders. “We are coordinating with the Pakistanis,” a military official tells the Los Angeles Times. “And we do provide Predator support when requested.” More»

Media sitdown dispells rumors Hakimullah Mehsud is dead

(AP) - Hakimullah Mehsud met with reporters Sunday for the first time since winning control of Pakistan's Taliban, quashing speculation that he had been slain in a succession struggle following his predecessor's death in a US drone attack. Flanked by heavily armed fighters, the new leader sat on a blue blanket, in a freshly pressed tunic, amiable and relaxed as he cracked jokes and mixed in threats of vengeance for deadly US airstrikes. One day later, a suicide bomber attacked a UN office in Islamabad. More»

(NEWSER) - Pakistani officials have confirmed the death of Baitullah Mehsud, the Pakistani Taliban leader, in an American drone strike early Wednesday. While there is still no concrete evidence of his death, the country's foreign minister said today that "he has been taken out." One security official told the New York Times that Mehsud has already been buried. Pakistani media are reporting that senior Taliban leaders are meeting to choose his successor. More»

(AP) - A US missile strike today in Pakistan's lawless tribal region killed a wife of Baitullah Mehsud, the Taliban commander, the AP reports. Mehsud has been accused of orchestrating dozens of suicide attacks in Pakistan, including the assassination of former PM Benazir Bhutto in December 2007. The US, as usual, did not comment on the strike, but three Pakistani officials confirmed that the blast destroyed the home of Mehsud's father-in-law and killed two people. More»