In a major blow to Pakistan’s most feared militant outfit Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), US drone strike killed its chief Hakimullah Mehsud alongwith five others in North Waziristan tribal region on Friday and the battle-hardened Said Khan Sajna has been appointed as new chief of TTP.

Islamabad, Nov 2/Nationalturk – Pakistan’s most wanted terrorist and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Hakimullah Mehsud was killed in a US drone strike in Pakistan’s North Waziristan tribal region. The battle-hardened Said Khan Sajna has been appointed as new chief of TTP, media reports said.

Pakistan’s security officials said Hakimullah Mehsud and five other Taliban militants were killed and two others wounded on Friday when a US drone targeted TTP chief’s vehicle as he left a meeting at a mosque in Dande Darpakhel area of North Waziristan.

“Hakimullah’s body was damaged but recognisable after the US drone strike,” a Pakistani Taliban fighter was quoted as saying by media.

Local tribesmen identified the other victims as Hakimullah’s cousin Tariq Mehsud, his driver Abdullah Mehsud and his personal guards.

Tribesmen said the US drone fired two missiles on Hakimullah’s double-cabin SUV. “Two militants sitting in the front seat and three in the back seat were killed, while two guards sitting on the rear cargo bed of the 4X4 were critically wounded,” they said.

Pakistan media quoted sources as saying that Hakimullah Mehsud was buried at an unknown location today.

Hakimullah had $5 million bounty

Hakimullah,  who had a $5 million bounty on his head,  had succeeded Baitullah Mehsud, who was also killed in a US drone strike in August 2009. Hakimullah  had survived at least two US drone strikes in the past.

US offered $5 million for Mehsud’s capture after he appeared in a farewell video with the Jordanian suicide bomber who killed seven CIA employees at a base in Afghanistan in 2009. US prosecutors have charged him with involvement in the attack. The Taliban is also accused of plotting to bomb Times Square in 2010.

Pakistan newspaper Dawn reported that Pakistani Taliban’s Shura (Council) today named Khan Said Sajna alias Khalid as the next chief of the outfit.

“Most of the members of the council were present in the meeting which was held at an undisclosed location though all members could not attend it. Out of 60 members attending the Shura, 43 members voted in favor of Sajna while 17 others voted against him,” the newspaper quoted militant sources as saying.

They said Said’s election was not confirmed by splinter groups of the militant organisation.

‘Sajna is battle hardened, mastermind of 2012 jailbreak’

Said, who is 36, is believed to be involved in the attack on a Naval base in Karachi and is also credited with masterminding a 2012 jailbreak in which the Taliban freed 400 inmates in the northwestern city of Bannu.

“Sajna has no basic education, conventional or religious, but he is battle-hardened and has experience of fighting in Afghanistan,” a security official said.

They were also media reports that Taliban’s Shura was considering four names for the chief’s post. These included Khan Said, Umar Khalid Khurasani, Mullah Fazlullah and Ghalib Mehsud.

According to security analysts, the killing of Mehsud was severe setback for the Pakistan Taliban. Earlier last month, US forces had seized top Pakistan Taliban militant commander from Afghanistan’s intelligence agency in Kabul. In May this year, a US drone strike killed Mehsud’s second-in-command.

They said his death may scuttle the prospect of peace talks between the Taliban and Pakistan government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who won a landslide election victory in May by promising to bring peace to the country, for the time being.

However, they said in the long run Mehsud’s killing may prove beneficial for the talks. “Now Pakistan government is in a strong position for talks and weakened Taliban may go for talks after some time”.

Taliban vows ‘unprecedented revenge’

Enraged over the killing of its top leader, the Taliban has vowed to take “unprecedented” revenge for the attack in which the militant group alleges the Pakistani government was also involved.

“Our revenge will be unprecedented,” Abu Omar, a Taliban commander in North Waziristan, was quoted as saying by the New York Times report.

He said he considered the Pakistani government was also “fully complicit” in the drone strike.

“We know our enemy very well,” he said.

Security apparatus across Pakistan has been beefed up after Hakimullah’s killing.

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Faiz Ahmad / NationalTurk Pakistan News