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Strike kills wife of Pakistani Taliban militant

One of the two wives of Baitullah Mehsud , Pakistan's most notorious Taliban militant, was killed in a suspected missile strike near the country's border with Afghanistan yesterday. This has led to official claims that the hunt for Mr Mehsud was progressing rapidly.

According to a Pakistani intelligence official, a missile strike after midnight, probably by a US drone in the south Waziristan region along the Afghan border, targeted the home of Ikramuddin Mehsud. He is a cleric and the father of Mr Mehsud's second wife, whom he married late last year.

"Baitullah Mehsud's wife, who was present at the house of her father, was among those killed," said the Pakistani official who requested anonymity. The US has placed a $5m (€3.5m, £3m) reward for information leading to the arrest or killing of Mr Mehsud.

In Pakistan, he is considered the most notorious Islamic militant and has been linked to a number of terrorist attacks including the December 2007 assassination of Benazir Bhutto , the former prime minister. The attack triggered speculation that Mr Mehsud might also have been targeted in the attack.

However, the intelligence official said yesterday: "The chances of Mehsud being targeted are very, very remote. The thought of a likely missile hit has meant that he keeps on changing places very frequently and tries to stay away from close family."

The intelligence official said the missile strike demonstrated that the US and Pakistan had made "significant inroads into Baitullah Mehsud's camp", adding "we now have much better intelligence than before on his movements".

Western diplomats agreed. "It is a sign of progress that Mehsud's wife was hit," said one.

In recent months, the Pakistani military has tightened its grip on Waziristan from where Mr Mehsud operates. Travellers in and out of the region are closely checked while the Pakistan air force has stepped up the number of reconnaissance flights over the area.

South Waziristan's serrated mountain ridges, dry river beds and gullies and shrubby vegetation provide perfect terrain for guerrilla warfare. Mr Mehsud has carefully built up a network of hardcore loyalists, thought to number between 10,000 and 15,000 fighters. In addition, he has overseen the creation of camps for the training of suicide bombers - a tactic that was rare among Pakistan-based militants until just over two years ago.

Earlier this summer, Qari Zainullah Mehsud, a tribal rival to Baitullah Mehsud. publicly challenged him, amid speculation that the break had been blessed by Pakistani authorities. Later, Qari Zainullah Mehsud was assassinated by one of his bodyguards, thought to have been supported by Baitullah Mehsud
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