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Pakistan Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud dead, says state television
Pakistan's military said today it was scrambling to confirm a report on state television that the leader of the Pakistani Taliban, Hakimullah Mehsud, has been killed.
The report said Mehsud, a target of CIA-directed drone attacks over the past month, has already been buried. The source of the information was not clear.
The main army spokesman, Major General Athar Abbas, told the Guardian the army was trying to verify the report. "We don't have any confirmation yet," he said, adding that the PTV information did not come from "any state agency".
An elder in the Mamuzai area of Orakzai tribal agency said he attended Mehsud's funeral on Thursday, the Associated Press reported. Speaking anonymously for fear of retaliation, the elder said Mehsud died at his in-laws' home.
A Reuters report, quoting a Pakistani intelligence official, said the Taliban leader may have been fatally wounded following a 17 January drone attack on two vehicles in North Waziristan.