'New Taliban chief Hakimullah is dead'

Islamabad

Sept. 1: New Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) commander Hakimullah Mehsud is also dead, a media report said.
“Hakimullah is dead. The interview given to BBC in the name of Hakimullah was actually the voice of his brother,” a Pakistani television channel reported.
“The motive behind hiding the news of Hakimullah’s death was to save banned TTP from conflicts,” the report said quoting unnamed sources.
During the nomination of Baithullah Mehsud’ s successor, fierce clash had been reported between two faction of Taliban groups. The sources said that Hakimullah Mehsud and Mufti Wali-ur-Rehman were killed during that clash and the Taliban concealed this information.
“When the meeting of the, Shoora (advisory body) of TTP was going on in South Waziristan for the nomination of Baithullah Mehsud’s successor, Mufti Wali-ur-Rehman and Hakimullah Mehsud exchanged hot words with each other, that later turned into cross-firing against each other. 4 people, including Hakimullah and Mufti Wali-ur-Rehman, were killed in the cross firing,” the channel reported.
Meanwhile, more than 100 Taliban fighters surrendered to the Army on Friday in Pakistan’s restive Swat valley while troops killed two rebels and captured 19 others during search and clearance operations across the Malakand division in the country’s northwest. A total of 105 militants surrendered to the Army in Kabal sub-division of Swat, officials said.
Also, government forces destroyed four militant bases and killed 40 insurgents Tuesday in a new offensive near Pakistan's famed Khyber Pass, the main route for supplies to US and Nato troops in Afghanistan, authorities said. The offensive follows a suicide blast in the region last week that killed 19 police officers at a key border crossing.
Source:: DECCAN CHRONICLE