MIRANSHAH, Pakistan -- RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal quotes local and intelligence sources in North Waziristan as saying that the former acting chief of the Pakistani Taliban has been killed.
The sources say that senior commander Asmatullah Shaheen Bhittani was killed by unknown attackers in the Darga Mandai area near Miranshah, the administrative headquarters of the troubled North Waziristan tribal district.
Bhittani's driver and two of his bodyguards were also reportedly killed.
Bhittani was on the Pakistan Army's list of 20 most-wanted Taliban commanders and had a $120,000 bounty on his head. Bhittani was caretaker chief of the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) following the death of Hakimullah Mehsud in a U.S. drone strike last year, until the appointment of Mullah Fazlullah in November.
Bhittani had been playing a key role in efforts to establish peace talks with Islamabad.
There has been no confirmation of his death from the TTP.
The sources say that senior commander Asmatullah Shaheen Bhittani was killed by unknown attackers in the Darga Mandai area near Miranshah, the administrative headquarters of the troubled North Waziristan tribal district.
Bhittani's driver and two of his bodyguards were also reportedly killed.
Bhittani was on the Pakistan Army's list of 20 most-wanted Taliban commanders and had a $120,000 bounty on his head. Bhittani was caretaker chief of the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) following the death of Hakimullah Mehsud in a U.S. drone strike last year, until the appointment of Mullah Fazlullah in November.
Bhittani had been playing a key role in efforts to establish peace talks with Islamabad.
There has been no confirmation of his death from the TTP.
