Pak says Mehsud’s killing to hit peace talks with Taliban

Islamabad – The Pakistani Government has said that its peace efforts with the Taliban have been jeopardized after a U.S. drone strike killed the militant group’s leader Hakimullah Mehsud on Friday.

Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan criticized the U.S. drone strike as an attempt to sabotage the peace process, the Daily Times reports.

The attack came just a day after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif announced in London that they were scheduled to send a three-member team to start peace negotiations with the Taliban.

Mehsud was reportedly holding a meeting of 25 Taliban leaders to discuss the peace initiative offered by the government, when four missiles attacked the compound in Danda Darpa Khel village, near Miranshah twon.

According to the report, Mehsud’s deputy Tariq Mehsud and his bodyguard Abdullah were also killed in the air strike.

The peace delegation, which was going to meet Taliban leaders in the towns of Peshawar and Bannu, has been stopped from departing after the attack, the report added.