Baitullah Mehsud killed in a CIA drone strike; Sufi Mohammed booked on charges of sedition; Mullen: US needs to focus on a regional approach incorporating Pakistan and Afghanistan to defeat the al-Qaeda
  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Whatsapp
  • Linkedin
  • Print

    • Report indicated that Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud was killed in a US drone attack on August 5. This was confirmed by a senior Taliban commander Kafayat Ullah, an aide to Mehsud. Ullah told the Associated Press agency that Mehsud and his second wife were killed in the missile attack in South Waziristan. Mehsud had a $5m bounty on his head announced by the US while the Pakistani government had offered $650,0001.

    Mehsud was responsible for a series of attacks inside Pakistan, the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and scores of suicide bombings, including at the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad which killed more than 50 people in September 2008. The drone attack was reportedly the result of months of close cooperation by the Pakistani and American intelligence agencies2.

    The NWFP government meanwhile registered a case against the chief of the proscribed Tehrik Nifaz-i-Shariat Muhammadi (TNSM), Maulana Sufi Mohammad on August 2, charging him with sedition, rebellion, terrorism, rioting and other offences. An FIR was registered against Sufi Mohammad and his seven associates (two of whom are dead) under different sections of the Pakistan Penal Code and Anti-Terrorism Act 1997, some of which carry a maximum sentence of jail term for life3.

    The US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen told the National Public Radio (NPR) that the US needs to focus on a regional approach to finding a solution to the difficult situation in the region that incorporates active cooperation from Pakistan and Afghanistan and which allows for a sustained relationship with both countries. He added that the al-Qaeda cannot be defeated just by “focusing on one country or another4.”

    In other developments, the IMF approved an additional $3.2 billion loan to Pakistan after Islamabad requested for more help to weather the global economic crisis. The IMF stated that the funds would help Pakistan “address increased balance of payment needs." The IMF executive board also approved an extension of the loan till the end of 20105.

    Top