Fresh rumours over fate of Taliban chief

Islamabad:  A new frenzy of rumours spread about the fate of Pakistan Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud yesterday, underscoring how tough it can be to get intelligence on militants seeking to topple the US-backed government.

Mehsud was wounded in a US drone aircraft attack in January. The strikes have escalated since Mehsud appeared in a farewell video with the double agent suicide bomber who killed seven CIA employees in December in Afghanistan.

The CIA is likely to step up efforts to hunt him — if he is alive; — after the Taliban claimed responsibility for a bombing that killed three troops in Pakistan this month.

The latest rumours started with a Taliban official who requested anonymity telling journalists Mehsud died of his wounds while being transported to the city of Karachi, a highly unlikely scenario because he would be more vulnerable to capture or killing outside his stronghold in tribal areas on the Afghan border.

A government intelligence official gave the same account. Interior Minister Rehman Malek said they had no credible information.