- Title: FILE: U.S. drone kills Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud
- Date: 1st November 2013
- Summary: SOUTH WAZIRISTAN, PAKISTAN (FILE - OCTOBER 4, 2009) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Urdu) HEAD OF PAKISTANI TALIBAN, HAKIMULLAH MEHSUD, SITTING ON THE GROUND WITH OTHER MILITANTS AND SAYING: "We allow those NGOs to function that are Islamic and work for the promotion of Islam. But we keep a strict check on them to make sure that what they are doing is strictly according to the dictates of Islam." (SOUNDBITE) (Urdu) CLOSER VIEW OF HEAD OF PAKISTANI TALIBAN, HAKIMULLAH MEHSUD, SAYING: "They [Western powers] buy off poor people and the citizens of poor countries, then turn them into hostages. They trample on their sovereignty and make them do their dirty work."
- Embargoed: 16th November 2013 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Pakistan
- City:
- Country: Pakistan
- Topics: Crime,Politics
- Reuters ID: LVAETFO4TCJT1REUEDC57HXZC8EE
- Aspect Ratio:
- Story Text: The head of the Pakistani Taliban was killed by a U.S. drone strike in Pakistan on Friday (November 1), several security sources told Reuters, the latest in a series of blows to the country's most feared militant group.
Hakimullah Mehsud, who was believed to be in his mid-30s and was one of Pakistan's most wanted men, has been reported dead several times before.
But late on Friday, several intelligence, army and militant sources and the Pakistani Taliban confirmed he had been killed in the drone strike in the lawless North Waziristan region.
Mehsud's Pakistani Taliban is an umbrella of militant groups separate to but allied to the Afghan Taliban.
Mehsud took over the Pakistani Taliban in August 2009 after a drone strike killed the previous leader, his mentor.
Taliban sources said his funeral would be held in North Waziristan on Saturday (November 2). - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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