Taliban confirm Mehsud's death

NY Times:

Baitullah Mehsud, the leader of Pakistan’s fearsome Taliban militia, was killed Wednesday in a C.I.A. missile strike, two Taliban fighters said Friday, adding that a meeting was taking place to determine which of his top deputies would replace him.

The Taliban fighters in northwest Pakistan, a senior leader reached by telephone in Orakzai Agency and a local Taliban fighter in Waziristan, said that Mr. Mehsud had been receiving kidney treatment from a relative in his father-in-law’s house in the remote village of Zanghara when the village was struck by missiles fired from a remotely-piloted drone.

The attack took place at 1 a.m. Wednesday. Zanghara, in South Waziristan, has been hit repeatedly by American drone attacks, the fighters said.

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“Taking Mehsud off the battlefield would be a major victory,” an American counterterrorism official said Thursday. “The world, and certainly Pakistan, would be a safer place without him.”

Mr. Mehsud, a diabetic, had been sick for some time and had come to his father-in-law’s house for a drip treatment by the relative, who was a medical practitioner, the Taliban fighters said.

The fighters refused to disclose the location of the meeting called to replace him, saying they feared another drone strike. A Pakistani television channel, Express News 24/7, reported that Mr. Mehsud’s top deputies were meeting in the Makeen area of South Waziristan in the mountains of western Pakistan. The broadcaster said Mr. Mehsud’s father-in-law attended the meeting in his place.

Three names have been put forward for Mr. Mehsud’s successor, Pakistani security officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter. They include his deputy, Hakimullah Mehsud, a young brash and aggressive commander who was until recently the Taliban’s commander for the Khyber tribal region and credited with the disruption of NATO supplies to Afghanistan.

Another, Waliur Rehman, is Mr. Mehsud’s relative. He is the most likely to succeed him, according to one Pakistani security official.

The third is a man identified by the officials as Azmatullah Mehsud. The decision, the official said, will be influenced by another militant group in Waziristan with close ties to the Afghan militant leader, Mullah Omar. “His death leaves behind a huge vacuum,” one of the officials said.

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Hakimullah Mehsud has certainly shown some skills at disrupting our supply lines. Whether he has the political skills to take the top spot may be another question. Whichever of the three is chosen will immediately get a target on their back.

The only thing surprising about this death is that it took so long to find him and send him the Hellfire. He was clearly an enemy that needed to be destroyed. After his assassination of Benazir Bhutto in December 2007, I think it was just a matter of time before the UAVs found him. The Washington Post says Mehsud had 10,000 followers.

Hopefully, this will also be a problem for al Qaeda. I think he has been their most vigorous ally and protector. His death shows just how dangerous that can be. It is also probably a good time for the Pakistan army to attack while the Taliban are disorganized.