Pakistan Taliban say chief Mehsud killed in drone strike

Mehsud became leader of the Pakistani Taliban in 2009

The leader of the Pakistani Taliban, Hakimullah Mehsud, has been killed in a drone strike, a high-ranking Taliban official has told our reporter.

The strike targeted a vehicle used by Mehsud with four missiles in the north-western region of North Waziristan.

Four other people were killed in the strike, including two of Mehsud's bodyguards, intelligence sources say.

Several previous claims of his death, made by US and Pakistani intelligence sources, have proven untrue.

Mehsud became leader of the Pakistani Taliban in 2009, aged 30, after his predecessor died in a US drone strike.

Hakimullah had come to prominence in 2007 as a commander under Baitullah, with the capture of 300 Pakistani soldiers adding to his prestige among the militants.

Mehsud had a $5m FBI bounty on his head and was thought to be responsible for the deaths of thousands of people.

The attack targeting him comes on the same day that the Pakistani government announced it was about to send a delegation to North Waziristan to try to get peace negotiations with the Taliban under way.