Officials: Taliban's Mehsud Is Dead

Mehsud vows he will attack again in Pakistan and US

(NEWSER) - The head of the Pakistani Taliban and the man accused of masterminding the assassination of Benazir Bhutto has claimed responsibility for yesterday's commando assault on the Lahore police academy and has threatened more attacks, the Times of London reports. Baitullah Mehsud personally called Western news agencies to take credit for the attack instead of issuing a statement through a subordinate. More»

(NEWSER) - Potentially big news out of Pakistan: A US drone may have killed Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud, reports Reuters. "There is reason to believe that reports of his death may be true, but it can't be confirmed at this time," said an anonymous US official. Mehsud is an al-Qaeda ally and a top target of American forces. Among other things, he's accused of orchestrating the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. More»

Army probes reports that drone strike killed Hakimullah Mehsud

(NEWSER) - The Pakistani army is investigating reports that the leader of the Taliban in the country has died after being injured in an American military drone strike. Hakimullah Mehsud, 28, had been at the helm of the Pakistani Taliban for 5 months, having taken over after the death—also in a drone strike—of Baitullah Mehsud, reports the Los Angeles Times . But a source within the Taliban says Hakimullah Mehsud is alive and has gone "underground" to dodge a recent campaign of drone attacks, CNN reports. More»

Strikes in city of Quetta would risk more civilian casualties

(NEWSER) - The Obama administration is considering using Predator drones for the first time to strike beyond the tribal area inside Pakistan. While many are uncomfortable with the idea of unmanned aircraft firing missiles into the city of Quetta—a Taliban hotbed of 850,000 people—in a US-allied nation, some American officials see it as the only way to pressure Pakistan into rooting out the Taliban. With only 18 months to turn the tide in Afghanistan, the decapitation of the "Quetta Shura" is considered crucial. More»

Terrorism fight a no-brainer, she tells students

(AP) - Hillary Clinton said today that Pakistan had little choice but to take a more aggressive approach, starting last summer, in combating the Taliban and other extremists that threaten to destabilize the country. In a lively give-and-take with students at the Government College of Lahore, Clinton said inaction by the government would have amounted to ceding ground to terrorists. "If you want to see your territory shrink, that's your choice," she said, adding that she believed it would be a bad choice. More»