Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud has been killed in a U.S. drone missile strike, Pakistan state television reported on Sunday.
Mehsud died in Orakzai tribal area where he was reportedly treated for his injuries, the TV said.
The U.S. has stepped up its drone attacks on Pakistan's border areas after a suicide bomber linked to the country's Taliban branch had killed seven CIA agents in the neighboring Khost province of Afghanistan in December last year.
According to the Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS), a total of 3,021 people were killed and 7,334 injured in terrorists attacks in Pakistan last year.
Militants were killed in U.S. drone strikes or, more often, sweeping army offensives against their mountain strongholds in Swat and South Waziristan.
Pakistan has witnessed a rise in bombings believed to be conducted by Islamists in response to military operations in their strongholds in the northwest.
The Pakistani military has been holding massive operations in South Waziristan, the Taliban's stronghold on the border with Afghanistan. The United States has also urged Pakistan to target Al-Qaeda militants on its territory, accusing them of carrying out attacks on U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan.
ISLAMABAD, January 31 (RIA Novosti)
