PESHAWAR, Pakistan — The Pakistani Taliban on Thursday acknowledged the death of its deputy leader in a drone attack, and one faction within the group unilaterally announced a successor to his position, portending a possible rift.
The Taliban spokesman, Ehsanullah Ehsan, said the deputy, Wali ur-Rehman, was among six people killed in a C.I.A. drone strike outside Miram Shah on Wednesday morning, confirming earlier accounts by Pakistani security officials.
Mr. Ehsan said his group was withdrawing its earlier offer of peace talks with the Pakistani government, and would take revenge for Mr. Rehman's death.
"The Pakistani government is involved in the American drone campaign by providing ground intelligence to the C.I.A.," he said in a telephone interview.
A Taliban commander, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the militants would also step up attempts to target American bases linked to the C.I.A. inside Afghanistan, believing they help orchestrate drone strikes in Pakistan's tribal belt.
Before his death, Mr. Rehman had a $5 million United States government bounty on his head, and faced American accusations that he had organized attacks on NATO forces in Afghanistan. He was also believed to have organized many attacks against the Pakistani military and government over the years.
Militant figures reported that Mr. Rehman had been buried in Khattay Kali, six miles east of Miram Shah, the main town in North Waziristan.
Mr. Ehsan, the Taliban spokesman, said the group's future strategy would be decided by its shura, or leadership council. Still, there were signs that the killing had exacerbated existing differences inside the Taliban ranks.
On Thursday morning, a group of six commanders allied with Mr. Rehman announced their own successor to his position, apparently without approval of the Taliban shura.
The commanders, who come from South Waziristan, Mr. Rehman's home area, announced that the commander Khan Said would succeed him as the Taliban deputy leader.
Over the past year, policy differences had emerged between Mr. Rehman and the group's top leader, Hakimullah Mehsud. Militant and official sources said Mr. Rehman was considered relatively moderate, and possibly more open to negotiations with the Pakistani government.
Mr. Said, described as a 36-year-old militant commander who sometimes goes by the alias Sajna, was not present during the commanders' meeting. Pakistani officials said they believed Mr. Said was in Afghanistan at the time of Mr. Rehman's death.
Residents of the tribal belt, speaking by telephone on the condition of anonymity, said Mr. Said had run a candy store in Dera Ismail Khan, just outside the tribal region, before joining the Pakistani Taliban.
An official with the tribal administration said Mr. Said had a reputation as an audacious fighter with limited education but much experience in fighting NATO and Afghan forces across the border in Afghanistan.
"Like Rehman, he is also more active across the border than he is in the tribal region," said the official, speaking on the customary condition of anonymity.
Mr. Said orchestrated a daring assault on a prison in the town of Bannu, near the tribal belt, in April 2012 that resulted in nearly 400 prisoners running free, including one who had been linked to an assassination attempt against the former military leader, Gen. Pervez Musharraf.
"Sajna was the mastermind," the administration official said.
31 May, 2013
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Source: http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNHkUe3MvTVLGOmneqt0CLTiWJCWkw&url=http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/31/world/asia/pakistani-taliban-confirm-deputys-death-and-some-choose-a-replacement.html
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