Search

Australian David Hicks pleads not guilty before U.S. military tribunal. His lawyers claim American and international law is being violated by the legal system in place.

As the investigation into the failed car bombing in Times Square by a Pakistani national continues, the government of the United States lays blame on the Pakistani militant group Tehrik-e-Taliban, also known as the Pakistani Taliban. The group is blamed for coordinating the attack and training the suspect, Faisal Shahzad.

Pakistani intelligence officials say that the original report of Hakimullah Mehsud, the leader of the Pakistani Taliban, was not killed by an American drone aircraft attack back in January, but was in fact seriously injured in the attack, so much so that he had to turn over command to another senior Taliban commander.

Plans by Pakistan to extradite captured Taliban leaders to Afghanistan have been held up by a ruling by the Lahore High Court, which prohibits the move until a case by human-tights activist Khalid Khawaja is decided by the court. Khawaja maintains that the prisoners should be tried in Pakistan, since they were captured in the country.

Hakimullah Mehsud, the leader of the Taliban in Pakistan, is dead, say the group's midlevel fighters. He reportedly died after injuries sustained after an American aerial bombing by a drone aircraft in August, but the report could not be confirmed. A spokesman for the Taliban has denied the report.

A United States missile strike using drone aircraft was carried out on June 15 of last year against the Taliban on the border of Pakistani territories dominated by the Taliban, South Waziristan and North Waziristan. The attack allegedly killed the Taliban leader for the area, Hakimullah Mehsud, but he reportedly was still alive after the bombing. Now, fresh reports are surfacing that he may have died recently from wounds sustained in the attack. Pakistani authorities are investigating.

Muslim Khan, who once worked as a housepainter in Boston, and was involved in the Taliban's uprising in the Swat Valley in Pakistan, was captured by Pakistani forces, along with four other Taliban commanders.

The Taliban in Pakistan has admitted that their leader, Bailtullah Mehsud, was killed as a result of an aerial strike by United States forces and announced the appointment of Hakimullah Mehsud as his replacement.

In its fight against the Taliban, Pakistan is planning a military operation in the South Waziristan region against the group's leader Mehsud Baitullah. The operation is a response to a bombing in Dera Ismail Khan, which killed several people, including a police official.

The United States and Pakistan are seeking Baitullah Mehsud, a Taliban leader seen as responsible for much of the terrorism in Pakistan.