Pakistani Taliban confirm leader is dead: report

 Source: Reuters

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistani Taliban militants confirmed on Tuesday for the first time that their leader, Baitullah Mehsud, had been killed, the BBC reported.

Pakistani and U.S. officials had said for days that Mehsud was killed in a missile strike by a pilotless U.S. drone aircraft in his South Waziristan stronghold near the Afghan border on August 5, but the Taliban had denied it.

The BBC said on its website that two Taliban commanders loyal to Mehsud, Hakimullah Mehsud and Wali-ur-Rehman, confirmed that Baitullah Mehsud had been killed.

Pakistan and U.S. officials had said militants appeared to be in disarray since Mehsud's death, with reports of infighting between factions vying to take command.

Analysts saw the Taliban's earlier denials that Mehsud was dead as an attempt to hide divisions over who should take charge of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or Taliban Movement of Pakistan, alliance of militant factions.

Hakimullah said Baitullah had been seriously wounded in the August 5 missile strike and had died on Sunday, the BBC reported.

Another Taliban commander announced on Saturday that Hakimullah had been chosen as the new leader of the Pakistani Taliban as Baitullah was sick.

The Pakistani Taliban are allies of al Qaeda and the Afghan Taliban but have mostly been fighting against Pakistani security forces.

Western governments with troops in neighboring Afghanistan are watching to see if any new Pakistani Taliban leader would shift focus from fighting the Pakistani government and put the movement's weight behind the Afghan Taliban insurgency.

The Pakistani Taliban's aggression and advances since late 2007 fueled increasing alarm over the stability of Pakistan and the security of its nuclear weapons.

Earlier, Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi told a news conference in Istanbul that he doubted the Taliban had appointed a new leader following Baitullah Mehsud's death.

"My information is that there is no decision taken yet," Qureshi said.

"There are a lot of claimants. There is confusion. We have to wait and see who the next chief is going to be."

Pakistani security forces have made significant gains in an offensive against the Pakistani Taliban since late April in the Swat valley, northwest of Islamabad, and have also been attacking Mehsud's men in South Waziristan.

(Writing by Robert Birsel; Editing by Louise Ireland)