US intelligence agencies believe the newly named leader of the Taliban in Pakistan, Hakimullah Mehsud, might have been killed in a firefight with a rival faction weeks ago, officials said on Friday.Militants tapped Hakimullah to replace the group's previous leader, Baitullah Mehsud, who was killed by a missile fired from a CIA-piloted drone aircraft in his South Waziristan stronghold on the Afghan border on August 5. Hakimullah's death, which officials said has yet to be confirmed definitively, would be another setback for a group that has mostly been fighting against Pakistani security forces but also sends militants to join the battle against US and NATO forces in neighbouring Afghanistan. 'We're pretty clear that we think he's dead,' a US defence official said of Hakimullah. A counterterrorism official said: 'While there's no final confirmation of his death, it's a distinct possibility.' The officials, who spoke about the intelligence on condition of anonymity, said Hakimullah was believed to have been shot weeks ago during a clash with a rival group in South Waziristan. US intelligence agencies are still reviewing information to make a final call on his death. Baitullah Mehsud, who led an alliance of 13 militant groups known as the Taliban Movement of Pakistan, was blamed for a series of suicide bombings in Pakistan, including the one that killed former prime minister Benazir Bhutto in 2007. Hakimullah had been described as even more aggressive than Baitullah.
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