Baitullah Mehsud is yet to be 100% confirmed dead but it is looking increasingly likely that he is, and good riddance, this is a huge blow in the fight against the Taliban in Pakistan, Mehsud commanded around 20,000 fighters, and had been responsible for a sustained suicide bombing campaign, including the 2007 killing of Benazir Bhutto.
The success of the campaign in Swat has given the authorities a difficult problem to ponder do they push on with the campaign into South Waziristan where the base of Mehsud’s operations are or not, this brings then perilously close to taking on the Afghan Taliban, there the terrain lends itself more to guerrilla fighting and they would be taking on more battle hardened fighters like the Uzbeks and the Chechens.
Pakistan has been accused in the past of turning a blind eye and of not doing enough to stop the spread of the Taliban, after the operation in the Swat valley these accusations are no longer justified. So to publicly Pakistani officials have been complaining about the unmanned US drone strikes saying they violate Pakistan’s sovereignty, but privately they are delighted with recent results, as well as Mehsud a host of top Taliban commanders have been taken out this year, some reports put the number at over 20.
I did think earlier this year when this offensive campaign was launched that this could be a turning point for Pakistan, and it looks as though it will be if momentum is maintained, high profile success's like Mehsud’s death will spur the authorities on.
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