Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud (c.) sits with other millitants in South Waziristan in this October 4, 2009 file video grab. Mehsud is in fact alive, according to a senior intelligence official in Islamabad. Reuters TV/Reuters/FilePakistan Agents Believe Taliban's Mehsud Is Alive -- Reuters
(Reuters) - Pakistani intelligence officials said on Thursday they believed Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud was alive, contradicting earlier comments that he was killed in a CIA-operated drone aircraft strike.
Mehsud was widely believed to have been killed in the Taliban bastion of South Waziristan near the Afghan border in January.
A Pakistani intelligence official said it was now believed that Mehsud had survived the attack."Yes, he is alive," a senior intelligence official told Reuters.
A second Pakistani intelligence official said he also believed that Mehsud survived the missile strike, though there was no hard evidence to confirm it.
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More News On Pakistan Taliban Leader Mehsud
Intel: Pakistan Taliban chief now believed alive -- AP
Pakistan Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud is alive: spy agency -- Christian Science Monitor
Pakistan Says Taliban Leader Not Dead -- Wall Street Journal
Officials: Taliban's Mehsud alive despite death reports -- CNN
Pakistan's Taliban leader survived U.S. drone missile -- L.A. Times
Pakistan Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud 'still alive' -- BBC
Taliban chief 'survived US attack' -- Press Association
Report: Taliban leader Mehsud is alive -- UPI
Hakeemullah Mehsud 'is alive': ISI official -- Threat Matrix