Reuters
People injured during airstrikes amid the conflict between Afghanistan and Pakistan, lie on hospital beds following a temporary ceasefire, in Kabul, Afghanistan.[Photo Credit: Reuters]
The leader of the Pakistani Taliban appeared in a video Thursday to prove he was still alive, a week after an apparent attempt to assassinate him with an airstrike in Afghanistan provoked the most serious clash between the neighbours in decades.
The airstrike on October 9 hit an armoured Toyota Land Cruiser believed to be carrying Noor Wali Mehsud in the Afghan capital, Kabul, according to Pakistani security officials.
After days of deadly violence, an uneasy ceasefire took hold on Wednesday. But with confirmation that Mehsud is still alive, Pakistan’s main grievance against its neighbour endures: Islamabad accuses Afghanistan of sheltering a militant leader and his senior lieutenants it blames for directing near-daily attacks in Pakistan.
Mehsud said in the video that he was appearing to refute reports of his death. Pakistani security officials and militants had previously assessed that he had probably survived.
Pakistan has not officially claimed responsibility for the airstrike, the first in Kabul since the successful 2022 U.S. targeting of Al Qaeda leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri.
The Afghan Taliban denies harbouring Pakistani militants and, in turn, accuses Islamabad of sheltering the local branch of the Islamic State group, their main armed rival. Mehsud, in the video, said he was in Pakistan. The footage was shot on a hilltop; Reuters could not verify the location.
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