02/11/2013 10:31
Taliban say leader killed by drone
The leader of the Pakistani Taliban, Hakimullah Mehsud, has been killed in a drone strike, a high-ranking Taliban official has told the BBC.
The strike targeted a vehicle used by Mehsud with four missiles in the north-western region of North Waziristan.
Four other people were killed in the strike, including two of Mehsud's bodyguards, intelligence sources say.
Several previous claims of his death, made by US and Pakistani intelligence sources, have proven untrue.
Pakistan's government has issued a statement strongly condemning the drone attack, saying such strikes were a "violation of Pakistan's sovereignty and territorial integrity."
Friday's strike targeted Mehsud's vehicle in the Dande Darpakhel, some 5km (3miles) north of the region's main town, Miranshah.
A senior US intelligence official told the Associated Press that the US received positive confirmation on Friday morning that he had been killed.
However, a spokesperson for the US National Security Council said that "we are not in a position to confirm those reports, but if true, this would be serious loss for the... Taliban."