Pakistan Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud killed

Islamabad: The chief of the Pakistani Taliban, Baitullah Mehsud, has been killed, a close aide to the militant leader said on Friday, adding that a meeting was being held to "choose his successor".

He died with his wife on Wednesday in north-western Pakistan in a suspected US missile attack that also killed half a dozen of his security guards, said Mehsud's aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Mehsud's funeral took place on Wednesday afternoon and his body was later buried in Margosa village, the Taliban leader said.

"Right now, a meeting of our shura (an advisory council of Mehsud's group) is being held in Sararogha to choose his successor," the aide said.

The Taliban were expected to announce Mehsud's death after Friday prayers together with the announcement of his successor. Among those being considered are his spokesman Hakimullah, Azmatullah and Wali Ur Rehman.

Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik said initial reports said Mehsud has been killed with his wife, a brother-in-law and seven bodyguards.

The missile strike, believed to have been carried out by a US unmanned drone aircraft, struck the house of one of Mehsud's two fathers-in-law in South Waziristan, a tribal region near the Afghan border and a known hub of Al Qaeda and Taliban militants.

The strike came as Pakistani security forces were gearing up for a major offensive against Mehsud, who is blamed for dozens of terrorist attacks across the country and had been declared Pakistan's enemy number one.

Mehsud declared himself leader of the Pakistan Taliban, grouping around 13 factions in the northwest, in late 2007 and his fighters have been behind a wave of suicide attacks inside Pakistan and on Western forces across the border in Afghanistan.

Mehsud is accused of being behind the assassination of Benazir Bhutto in December 2007, a charge he has denied. Conspiracy theories abound over who killed the former prime minister.

US missile attacks on Mehsud territory in South Waziristan became more frequent after Pakistan ordered an offensive against him in June.

Next Page: Mehsud's potential successors

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CONTENDERS FOR LEADERSHIP

Intelligence agents had also picked up signs that leaders of various Taliban factions planned to gather for a shura, or council meeting, somewhere in Waziristan later on Friday.

There is speculation they will choose a new leader and the names of militants Hakimullah Mehsud, Maulana Azmatullah and Wali-ur-Rehman have surfaced as possible successors.

Hakimullah Mehsud commands Taliban militants in three tribal regions of Orakzai, Khyber and Kurram and is said to be an important leader in the Taliban hierarchy.

Like Baitullah, Azmatullah also hails from the Shahbikhel, a sub-tribe of the Mehsuds. He is an important commander and a member of Taliban shura, or council of leaders.

Wali-ur-Rehman is another shura member, and is a former spokesman for Baitullah Mehsud.

WHAT MEHSUD' S DEATH MEANS

Diplomats in Islamabad say Mehsud's death would mark a major coup for Pakistan, but many doubt it will help Western troops fighting the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan as most of his focus has been on attacking Pakistan's government and security forces.

Retired brigadier Mehmood Shah, former chief of security in the tribal areas, said his Mehsud's death would be ''quite a setback'' for the Taliban.

''He is the one man who really organised the Taliban, kept unity among them and really forwarded the agenda with a lot of ... strategic thinking,'' said Shah.

Karin von Hippel, a security expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, doubted whether the removal of one Taliban leader would have a lasting impact.

''What happens is another comes in and takes their place pretty quickly,'' von Hippel said.

Next Page: What it means for India

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She reckoned there were more than 40 militia commanders among the Pakistani Taliban, and their relationship with the Afghan Taliban was sometimes hazy.

''I'm not sure we have a very good understanding of how all these these militia groups operate within Pakistan and with the networks across the border in Afghanistan,'' she said.

WHAT IT MEANS FOR PAKISTAN, USA, INDIA

What does the death of Baitullah Mehsud mean for India, Pakistan and the US?

• For Pakistan it means that the planned Waziristan offensive may not go ahead. And the Pakistan army will no longer be a Taliban target. Also, Pak-Taliban fighters will join Taliban supremo, Mullah Omar in Afghanistan. Pakistan army offensive in tribal territories may decrease.
• For the US, the killing is a feather in its cap. It means it will intensify its intelligence efforts against other Taliban-al-Qaeda targets. Pressure on US troops will increase as Pak-Taliban fighters join Mullah Omar in Afghanistan.
• India, meanwhile, will welcome the elimination of an anti-India figure. However, doubts about Pakistani commitments on fighting terror remain