Taliban head Mehsud may be dead

Taliban head Mehsud may be dead

news.bbc.co.uk

US and Pakistani officials have said they are checking reports that the leader of the Taliban in Pakistan, Baitullah Mehsud, has been killed.

He is said to have died in a missile attack on the home of a relative

(visit the link for the full news article)


[edit on 7-8-2009 by sunny_2008ny]

This is a good thing for the US and for terrorism that this guy is dead. If this is confirmed then the US has got another rallying point in it's fight against the Taliban in Pakistan and Afghanistan

If after his death there is a less effective Taliban leadership in Pak and Afg then this is indeed a mojor boost and it may erdicate the Taliban.

news.bbc.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

[edit on 7-8-2009 by sunny_2008ny]

This man was more an enemy of Pakistan than he was of the US . Indeed , many suspect that he was working hand in hand with the CIA . It would be interesting to know who killed him , I would think the ISI would be the agency most likely to have carried out this termination .

reply to post by Gun Totin Gerbil

This man was more an enemy of Pakistan than he was of the US . Indeed , many suspect that he was working hand in hand with the CIA . It would be interesting to know who killed him , I would think the ISI would be the agency most likely to have carried out this termination

This man was against the US since US invaded Afghanistan and his attacks on US interests in Pak and other attacks carried out by him against Pak were enought for US to kill him

I think the CIA killed him and I dont think the ISI has anything to do with it. ISI has been suporting the Taliban for a long time now and although not openly, but covertly many top ISI officials still have contacts with the Taliban

He is not 'the Taliban leader' , but the leader of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) a pakistani group , whose agenda does not align itself with the Afghan Taliban contingent . There has been much speculation in the past as to why the US has never targeted him , unless there is a new understanding , a new compromise with Pakistan , I do not see why the US would take their own man out . Unless it is a Pakistani , ISI , operation that put paid finally to this rogues endeavours.

reply to post by Gun Totin Gerbil

He is not 'the Taliban leader' , but the leader of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) a pakistani group , whose agenda does not align itself with the Afghan Taliban contingent .

This leader was fighting in Afghanistan against the US forces too. There were some differences in the idealogy of Pak Taliban and Afg Taliban but they were both fighting the US, and were communicating with each other

The predator strikes are carried out by US and ISI is also aware of the campaign, but I doubt if ISI knowns where and when the drones are going to hit. The ISI has been accused of tipping off the Taliban in the past about drone attacks.

Baitullah Mehsud had emerged as one of the most wanted Islamist extremists in Pakistan's lawless western tribal regions, leading a large army of militants that have fought U.S. and Pakistani forces on both sides of the Afghan-Pakistani border.

Pakistani officials accused Mr. Mehsud of being behind a number of high-profile terrorist attacks, including the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in 2007.

The Central Intelligence Agency, in concert with Pakistan's intelligence service, has conducted a widening campaign against militant leaders inside Pakistan using unmanned Predator drones to conduct air strikes against suspected hideouts.

Source: online.wsj.com...


[edit on 7-8-2009 by sunny_2008ny]

The reports , if they are to be believed and /or later substantiated that it was indeed a drone attack that killed him , then it seems by the report he was a collateral fatality , the inadvertent casualty of being at the wrong place at the wrong time . If this was the case , it is superfluous to question the ISI's knowledge of such operations if this death was accidental . There is no direct data yet apparant to determine exactly the whys wherefores and howfores it has come to pass , just speculation .

Can you say the US deliberately killed him ? , no ..Can you say the ISI did not make sure he was there at that particular time ? , no . I have conjecture and questions , and why not . You have a closed mind and have already established the events as written in stone, and that is your prerogative .

reply to post by Gun Totin Gerbil

Can you say the US deliberately killed him ? , no ..Can you say the ISI did not make sure he was there at that particular time ? , no . I have conjecture and questions , and why not . You have a closed mind and have already established the events as written in stone, and that is your prerogative .

I think he was the target of the drone attack that supposedly killed him. The drone attacks are not randomly carried out, they are are carried out based on intelligence.

ISI wanted him dead or not, I dont know, but all I am saying is that now that the Pak officials are saying he may be dead, I think the next few says will confirm if he is really dead or not.

As far as your comment on me having a close mind, I prefer not to comment on it because I feel that it is THE topic that we should discuss and I dont believe in discussing anything off the topic here

Nobody is saying that the reports of his death are suspect , it is quite possible he is dead . There is no questioning of wether the Pakistani officials are accurate or not in their prognosis . Nor is the question of the intelligence that the usaf uses to acquire targets for their drones being asked. Again , this is all superfluous . The target was the man's family we can see from the report . It does not lead necessarily to the conviction that he was himself the target . I do not see why I cannot question your view of the event in it's apparent crystal clear clarity of no suspicion of who is the agency responsible for his death if you have no qualms in questioning my uncertain perspective .

EXCLUSIVE: Drone Strike Not Meant For Mehsud

AUGUST 9, 2009...4:03 PM
CIA Stunned – Americans Led To Strike Wrong Target.

The drone strike that resulted in the death of Pakistan’s most wanted terrorist is believed to be a result of deliberately planted false intelligence, sources in South Waziristan have confirmed.

Rival militants close to Qari Zainullah Mehsud (who was killed on Baitullah Mehsud’s orders) tipped off suspected local CIA informers about the presence of a ‘high value afghan taliban target’ in a house in South Waziristan.

Qari Zainuddin, a former aide of Baitullah Mehsud, had denounced Baitullah Mehsud in June this year and had revealed Mehsud’s links with Indian and Israeli intelligence agencies. Zainuddin was gunned down in his office the next day and Baitullah Mehsud claimed responsibility for the killing.

In what appears to be an attempt to extract revenge by those loyal to Qari Zainuddin, false intelligence was deliberately fed to a number of local residents suspected of working as informers for the Americans in Afghanistan. Hours later, a CIA operated drone guided by a physically dropped electronic homing device, attacked and destroyed the house which the Americans believed was occupied by Anti-US Afghan Taliban.

The CIA has been paying tribesman in Waziristan “plant the electronic devices” near militant safehouses, reported the Guardian on June 1st this year. “Hours or days later, a drone, guided by the signal from the chip, destroys the building with a salvo of missiles.”

This isn’t the first time an electronic homing device has led the Americans to strike a wrong target. The Guardian’s report continues

The ‘wrong target’ for the Americans on this occasion has turned out to be the right one for the Pakistanis, who have seen a violent rise in suicide attacks and assasinations in recent years, most of which had been tracked backed to Baitullah Mehsud’s Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan.

Pakistani security officials have long complained about the Americans’ choice of targets.

pakalert.wordpress.com...

Which more or less ties in with what I said earlier .