Mehsud dead: Pak Taliban spokesman

The captured spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban has told interrogators that the movement’s leader was killed in a US missile strike earlier this month.

The captured spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban has told interrogators that the movement’s leader was killed in a US missile strike earlier this month.

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US and Pakistani officials have said they are almost certain that Baitullah Mehsud was killed in the August 5 strike. But several Taliban commanders had told media organisations he is alive.

Taliban spokesman Maulvi Umar was arrested on Monday evening close to the Afghan border. An intelligence official who interrogated Umar said on Tuesday that he had acknowledged that Mehsud was dead.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media.