Video showing Mehsud's dead body surfaces

Islamabad: The Taliban in Pakistan have released a video, that shows their former chief Baitullah Mehsud dead. This is the first visual confirmation that Mehsud has indeed died.

There were reports earlier that he had been killed in a missile attack by a US drone.

The video shows Baitullah Mehsud lying on a flat surface in a room and his body is covered in a shroud. A man is also shown in the video crouching near the body.

Though the Pakistan government claimed Mehsud has been killed, they were unable to retrieve his body as he was targeted in an area totally controlled by militants and the video is the first evidence of his death.

The video, shot with a mobile phone, was received by the Urdu service of the BBC. The clipping shows Mehsud's body lying on a plain surface and covered with a white cloth.

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His injuries are not visible and it shows only a few cuts on the right side of his face. The silent video also features a man and a few other people sitting near Mehsud's body.

The militants initially denied Mehsud had been killed in the drone attack but finally acknowledged reports of his death earlier this month after Hakimullah Mehsud was named the new head of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan.

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BBC quoted Taliban operatives as saying that the video of Mehsud's body was made a few hours after the attack that killed him.

(With PTI inputs)