Pakistani Taliban names new leader to replace Fazlullah

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The Pakistani Taliban has appointed Mufti Noor Wali Mehsud as its new leader, acknowledging publicly for the first time that its former chief, Mullah Fazlullah, was killed in a US drone attack.

Mehsud, who belongs to South Waziristan region, served earlier as a deputy to former Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud, who was blamed for the 2007 assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

January 3, 2018: Afghan commandos forces patrol during a US-Afghan military operation against Islamic state IS militants in Achin district of Nangarhar province. /VCG Photo

In a statement released Sunday, Taliban spokesman Mohammad Khurasani confirmed that Fazlullah was killed in a US air strike in Afghanistan's Kunar Province, near the border with Pakistan on June 13.

Pakistan Foreign Ministry spokesman and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said earlier that Fazlullah's death was a serious blow to the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

This frame grab taken on November 11, 2013 shows Maulana Fazlullah, newly appointed chief of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), speaking with local journalists in Pakistan's northwestern Swat valley. /VCG Photo

Who is Fazlullah?

Fazlullah ordered the beheading of dozens of opponents when his band of insurgents controlled Pakistan's picturesque Swat Valley from 2007 until a massive military operation routed them out in 2009.

He rose to prominence through his radio broadcasts in Swat demanding the imposition of Islamic law, earning him the nickname "Mullah Radio."

As Pakistan’s most-wanted militant, Fazlullah is also notorious for attacks including a 2014 school massacre that killed 132 children and the 2012 shooting of Malala Yousafzai, who was later awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.