Mehsud left funeral early to avoid his own

Independent:

The head of Pakistan's Taliban, Baitullah Mehsud, left a funeral procession before it was hit by a suspected US missile strike that killed 80 people mourning an earlier barrage, intelligence officials said yesterday.

They claimed that several senior Taliban militants were killed in the attack launched from a drone aircraft.

Mehsud, who is accused of plotting suicide bombings and the assassination this week of his chief Taliban rival, is the target of a looming offensive by Pakistan's military in the South Waziristan tribal area bordering Afghanistan. Suspected missile strikes killed several people at a purported Taliban training centre on Tuesday. The second barrage rained down on a funeral procession for some of those killed in the first attack.

Two intelligence officials said that although Mehsud had visited the village where the funeral took place, he left before the drone-fired missiles killed 80 people and wounded dozens more. Qari Hussain, a close associate of Mehsud, denied media reports that the Taliban leader had narrowly escaped with his life.

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My guess is that he will not be attending the funerals of the 80 who were killed at this one. I suspect the US is review the tape before the last strike to determine when Mehsud left and where he went. There will still be some Hellfire waiting for him.