**US drone strike kills Pakistan Taliban number two: Officials
**
PESHAWAR: A US drone strike killed the number two of the Pakistan Taliban, Waliur Rehman, in the North Waziristan region on Wednesday, three security officials said in what would be a major achievement in the fight against militancy.
The drone strike killed seven people, the security officials said, including Taliban deputy commander Waliur Rehman, in the first such attack since a May 11 general election in which the use of the unmanned aircraft was a major issue.
Waliur Rehman had been poised to succeed Hakimullah Mehsud as leader of the Pakistan Taliban, a senior army official based in the South Waziristan tribal region, the group’s stronghold, said in December.
The Pakistan government had yet to confirm Waliur Rehman’s death. A US drone killed Pakistani Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud in 2009.
It has been seen in the past that deads of drones sprung up days later. We have yet to see if this news is credible or not. Waliur Rehman has been seen as a saner head in the pool of fools, but a majority of people believe that there are no good or bad Talibans, animals are animals.
Who decides this hierarchy? Just like previously when they used to kill Al-CIAda members they would announce that they have killed number nth or some top-dog.
The TTP decides the heirarchy, of course. In a video released last year they stated that Waliur Rehman is Hakimullah Mehsud’s loyal deputy, in an attempt to dispel rumours of a split between the TTP leadership.
This link is from last December. Hakimullah Mehsud not to be replaced: TTP | Pakistan | DAWN.COM
PESHAWAR: A video released on Friday, showing Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief , Hakimullah Mehsud sitting with his deputy Waliur Rehman, dispells recent reports of a depeening rift between the two powerful militant commanders.
“There is no divide in TTP. I and Maulvi Waliur Rehman are one, and look, we are sitting together. The propaganda of a rift in Taliban ranks is totally untrue,” says Mehsud pointing to Rehman in the 45-minute Pashto language video, a copy of which has been received by Dawn.com.
Here are the names of the people killed in this drone strike. Although I do not condone them but taleban have killed 20 times more people as compared to the deaths due to drone strikes.
