 |
         
|
ABC led its newscast Thursday with Martha Raddatz reporting on speculation that Baitullah Mehsud had been assassinated by the CIA. Now his death seems certain. "It is the first time the claim has credibility from intelligence experts and from Mehsud's own lieutenants," reported CBS' Richard Roth from London. ABC's Nick Schifrin filed from Islamabad in Raddatz' update: "Locals cut off the village where the attack took place. A massive funeral has been held but still it is virtually impossible for anyone outside the village to gain access." ABC's Raddatz reported that Mehsud had been killed by a missile from an unmanned Predator drone launched from Shamsi Air Force Base inside Afghanistan. He was having his legs massaged by his wife on the roof of her house in southern Waziristan on the Pakistani side of the border when he was terminated.
NBC's Richard Engel told us about Mehsud's reputed prowess: he commanded between 10,00 and 20,000 fighters and was blamed by the United Nations for 70% of all suicide attacks inside Pakistan. The United States had offered a $5m bounty on his head. For Asif Ali Zardari, the President of Pakistan, "killing Mehsud was personal, revenge for his wife," Benazir Bhutto, whose assassination Mehsud is suspected of masterminding. Reporting from Kabul, NBC's Engel advised that Mehsud's death would do nothing to weaken Taliban forces inside Afghanistan.
You must be logged in to this website to leave a comment. Please click here to log in so you can participate in the discussion.
