Umar Studio, the broadcasting arm of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP, or the Movement of Pakistani Taliban), has released a new video statement of Hakimullah Mehsud, the TTP chief.
Hakimullah Mehsud was reportedly killed in a U.S. drone attack in mid-January 2010, but the Taliban denied the reports of his death, and subsequently released two audio statements of him. His death was again denied by TTP spokesman Azam Tariq in late-February 2010.
The last time Hakimullah Mehsud was seen was in a video released by the Taliban on January 9, 2010, in which he was sitting next to Humam Khalil Al-Balawi who carried out a suicide attack on the CIA operations base in Afghanistan's Khost province on December 30, 2009.
The latest video of Hakimullah Mehsud fails to conclusively prove that he is alive, as there are no dates or events mentioned by the Taliban commander which could conclusively refute reports of his death.
In the latest video, which was released with the Urdu-language voice over, Mehsud argued that the current war in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border region is not merely a war between the Taliban and the United States, but "between the Muslim Ummah and the world of infidels."
The Taliban commander also rejected any distinctions between the Afghan Taliban and the Pakistani Taliban, saying that all the fighters are led by Mullah Omar, the Emir-ul-Momineen (leader of the faithful).
