As the Pakistani army and the US hail the now confirmed death of Baitullah Mehsud, leader of the Pakistani Taliban, the radical Islamic group itself is entering a period of turbulence as it chooses a new leader. Is the battle over for the Taliban?
A senior commander of the Pakistani Taliban, Hakimullah Mehsud, has confirmed for the first time that the militant group's leader Baitullah Mehsud died from injuries sustained in a US missile strike on August 5, AFP reports.
The Pakistani Taliban named a successor to militant chief Baitullah Mehsud, suspected of having died in an August 5 strike, but intelligence sources say the announcement could be a lie designed to keep the movement unified despite its lack of leader.
The Pakistani Taliban have appointed a successor to Baitullah Mehsud (photo foreground), who US and Pakistani officials believe was killed by a US strike earlier this month. Taliban sources say Mehsud survived the attack but is seriously ill.
Pakistani government and military officials claim to have captured Maulvi Omar, the spokesman for Pakistan's feared Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) organisation, whose leader Baitullah Mehsud was reported dead earlier this month.
In this edition: the presumed death of the Taliban chief in Pakistan gets a lot of online reaction; US Web users defend the Internet's independent status; the White House launches a controversial rumour-stopping website.
The alleged death of Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud (pictured) has left the group in disarray, with reports emerging of a gun battle at a meeting to select a new leader. However, confirmation is still being sought that Mehsud is in fact dead.
President Barack Obama's national security adviser has said US certainty that Baitullah Mehsud died in a US missile strike is "in the 90 percent category." He called the news "a big deal" that has already stirred dissension in insurgent ranks.
The Pakistani government is investigating unconfirmed reports that shooting broke out between two rivals for the leadership of the Pakistani Taliban, and one of them may have been killed, the interior minister has said.
A Pakistani Taliban commander said his movement's leader, Baitullah Mehsud, survived a US drone missile attack, and described official Pakistani reports of his death as "ridiculous", according to the BBC Urdu service website.
