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Pakistani Taliban meeting to choose new leader after chief killed in US strike, militants say

Associated Press
Published | Updated
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    FILE - This this Oct. 4, 2009 file photo shows Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud in Sararogha of the Pakistani tribal area of South Waziristan along the Afghanistan border. Intelligence officials said Friday, Nov. 1, 2013 that the leader of the Pakistani Taliban Hakimullah Mehsud was one of three people killed in a U.S. drone strike. (AP Photo/Ishtiaq Mehsud, File) (The Associated Press)

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    FILE - In this Sunday, Oct. 4, 2009 file photo, Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud, right, holds a rocket launcher with his comrades in Sararogha of Pakistani tribal area of South Waziristan along the Afghanistan border. Intelligence officials said Friday, Nov. 1, 2013 that the leader of the Pakistani Taliban Hakimullah Mehsud was one of three people killed in a U.S. drone strike. (AP Photo/Ishtiaq Mehsud, File) (The Associated Press)

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    FILE - In this file photo taken Sunday, Oct. 4, 2009, new Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud, left, is seen with his comrade Waliur Rehman, front center, during his meeting with media in Sararogha of Pakistani tribal area of South Waziristan along the Afghanistan border. Intelligence officials said Friday, Nov. 1, 2013 that the leader of the Pakistani Taliban Hakimullah Mehsud was one of three people killed in a U.S. drone strike. (AP Photo/Ishtiaq Mehsud, File) (The Associated Press)

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan – Intelligence officials and militant commanders say the Pakistani Taliban are meeting to choose a new leader after their chief was killed in a U.S. drone strike.

They say the Taliban's leadership committee is meeting at an undisclosed location Saturday in the North Waziristan tribal area, the same region where a U.S. drone strike killed the group's leader, Hakimullah Mehsud, on Friday.

Drones were still flying over North Waziristan Saturday. Witnesses say Mehsud's supporters in two towns were firing at them in anger.

The officials and five Taliban commanders interviewed by phone say two candidates are Mullah Fazlullah, the Pakistani Taliban chief for the northwest Swat Valley, and Khan Sayed, the leader in the South Waziristan tribal area.

They spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to talk to media.