On Friday, Kafayat Ullah, a key aide to Pakistan's most notorious Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud, told the Associated Press over telephone that Mehsud has been killed in a US drone attack. Pakistan's foreign minister, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, has stated that his government is in the process of seeking ‘ground verification', while a US spokesperson has said that there was ‘reason to believe reports of his death may be true but it cannot be confirmed'.
The missile attack represents the culmination of sustained efforts by both Pakistani and American armed forces to eliminate Mehsud who, as the mastermind of numerous terrorist attacks, apparently including the assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, rapidly attained the status of Pakistan's most wanted man. The drone-launched missile hit the house of Mehsud's father-in-law in the Zangarha area of South Waziristan, long regarded as Mehsud's stronghold. Apparently Mehsud was staying there with his wife, who has also been reported dead.
The ToD verdict: If true, the death of Baitullah Mehsud represents a clear victory for the counter-insurgency effort in Pakistan's unstable northwest. As commander of the Tehrik Taliban Pakistan, a wide-ranging militant alliance spanning the tribal belt, Mehsud orchestrated dozens of attacks, many involving suicide bombers. His removal will bolster the morale of the Pakistani army, who, having recently pacified the Swat valley, are now encroaching on South Waziristan, and may seriously weaken the Pakistani Taliban's leadership.
The wider implications of a successful assassination are difficult to predict. The fight against terrorism has seen numerous apparent milestones, from the apparent military victories over Afghanistan and Iraq in 2001 and 2003, the capture of Sadam Hussein in 2003 and the death of Al Qaeda's chief in Iraq, Musab al Zarqawi, in 2006. Although undoubtedly a formidable leader, Mehsud will have many willing heirs. According to the BBC, a gathering of Taliban leaders is already taking place in South Waziristan to choose a successor.
Meanwhile, violence in Afghanistan continues to exert a bloody toll on coalition forces and innocent bystanders. On Thursday, four US servicemen were killed by a roadside bomb in western Afghanistan. On the same day, two roadside attacks in Helmand province killed five policemen and five civilians
On Friday, three members of the UK's elite Parachute Regiment were killed and a fourth badly injured when their vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb and small arms fire. Their deaths bring the total UK toll to 195 since combat operations began in 2001. On the same day, new NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, speaking during his first visit to Afghanistan, called for more troops to be deployed to the war-torn country.
One year on and 30,000 Georgians still refugees
On Friday, as Georgia marked the one year anniversary of its five day conflict with Russia over the breakaway region of South Ossetia, Amnesty International reported that 30,000 people, mostly ethnic Georgians, are still displaced. Amnesty reports that many of these refugees continue to face hardship and remain dependent on aid, lacking access to basic services due to the remoteness of the settlements which house them.
Over 200,000 people were displaced by the fighting between Russia and Georgia, which was sparked by Georgian incursion into the breakaway region South Ossetia. Russian military intervention on the side of the South Ossetians led to bloody fighting in which, according to human rights organisations, war crimes were committed by both sides. Attributing responsibility for the conflict remains controversial, with Georgia insisting that its intervention came as a response to a ‘secret Russian invasion'.
New Tamil Tiger chief captured
Sri Lankan military officials confirmed that on Thursday the new leader of the militant separatist group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Selvarasa Pathmanathan, was arrested and taken to Colombo. There has been no confirmation as to where he was arrested, with the Thai government denying rumours that the capture had taken place in their country. Mr Pathmanathan took command of the organisation's remnants after his predecessor, Velupillai Prabhakaran, along with most of the senior commanders and remaining fighters, was killed in a bloody battle against the Sri Lankan military in May.
Lord's Resistance Army attacks displace 12,000 refugees
A new wave of attacks in the Democratic Republic of Congo's Province Orientale by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) has lead to 12,500 people being displaced from their homes, according to the UNHCR. The Ugandan rebel group launched 55 attacks in July, targeting civilians in the Faradje region 100km west of the South Sudan and Ugandan borders. This will add to an already dramatic refugee problem in the country, with the UN estimating that over 226,000 people have been displaced in Haut-Uele territory alone. With aid agencies only able to reach 45% of internally displaced persons, and continuing insecurity and poor infrastructure obstructing their work, renewed fears of a humanitarian disaster may well be fulfilled.