04 October,2009 08:23 AM IST | | IANS
US intelligence agencies believe the newly named leader of the Taliban in Pakistan, Hakimullah Mehsud, might have been killed in a gunfight with a rival faction weeks ago.
Hakimullah's death, which has yet to be confirmed definitively, would be another setback for the group, the Nation reported Saturday.
"We're pretty clear that we think he's dead," a US defence official said of Hakimullah. A counterterrorism official said: "While there's no final confirmation of his death, it's a distinct possibility."u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0
