Taliban chief confirmed dead

The Pakistan government has confirmed that Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud has indeed been killed despite Taliban claims to the contrary;

Reports of Mehsud’s death emerged after a spate of U.S. missiles hit his stronghold in Pakistan’s northwest tribal belt in mid-January. Mehsud was said to have died of wounds suffered in one of the strikes.

The Taliban have denied his death, but have backed off an initial promise to prove the 20-something still lives.

Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik and a senior intelligence official told AP that Mehsud was dead, but neither gave details as to when or how he died. The intelligence official spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak on the record.

Of course this doesn’t do much to stem the attacks in Pakistan, but it cuts legacy costs for the Taliban.

A bomb attack on a tribal police patrol in northwest Pakistan has killed at least 15 people, most of them security personnel.

According to Pakistani officials, the attack targeted the police convey in the Khyber district near the Afghan border late on Wednesday.

Sources say three tribal chiefs are among the dead. Twelve others were also wounded in the blast that hit a police vehicle traveling through the area.

Of course, Joe Biden’s robot zombie ninja operations will have a limited effect on short term outcome of operations in Afghanistan, but it’s always nice when the good guys get one of the bad guys.

Category: Barack Obama/Joe Biden, Terror War