Pakistan Taliban appoints new chief

Islamabad : Pakistan Taliban Saturday appointed Khan Said Sajna alias Khalid as its new chief after a US drone attack killed its former leader Hakimullah Mehsud in Pakistan’s North Waziristan region Friday.

The consultative body of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) appointed Khan Said the new chief of the outfit at a meeting at an undisclosed place in North Waziristan, reported Xinhua citing reports in Pakistani media.

Khan Said, who was the close aide of former chief Hakimullah, got 43 out of 60 votes of the consultative body, the reports said.

Khan Said had been leading the Taliban chapter of South Waziristan since May this year after a US drone strike killed an important leader named Wali-ur-Rehman.

Khan Said, 36, was reportedly involved in some of the big terrorist attacks in Pakistan, including the attack on a naval base in Karachi and the 2012 jailbreak in which the Taliban freed around 400 inmates in Bannu district.

According to reports, Khan Said has no basic education, conventional or religious, but he is considered a battle-hardened and experienced guerrilla battle commander.

There was no final confirmation from the Taliban side about the appointment of Khan Said as the TTP chief.