http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/03-taliban-confirm-hakeemullahs-death-ss-01
Taliban confirm Hakeemullah's death
Tuesday, 09 Feb, 2010
KARACHI: The Taliban based in Orakzai Agency confirmed on Tuesday that
Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan chief Hakeemullah Mehsud is dead.
According to a DawnNews report, Mehsud died on Sunday in Multan after
succumbing to injuries received in a drone attack in Shaktoi village.
However, Alam Tariq the offiicial Taliban spokesman has not yet made a
statement.
Sources said that Maulvi Noor Jamal has been nominated as Mehsud's succesor.
Government officials too have confirmed his death.
American and Pakistani officials had been saying Mehsud was dead since the past
few weeks.
Maulvi Noor Jamal is a native of the Orakzai Agency and rose to power as the
leader of the Taliban in the Kurram tribal area.
He was also given responsibilities for Orakzai when the military began the
Waziristan offensive in October.
Jamal is in his late thirties and was a maulana at a local madrassah before he
was made the leader of the Taliban in Kurram.
He had a close relationship with Mehsud and is known for his brutality.
One resident who left Khurram for fear of being wanted by him said Jamal
"...kills humans like one will kill chickens."
Jamal is also the man who is allegedly overseeing the flogging of two men and a
teenage boy in a recently broadcast video.
