Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud (R) is seen after a meeting with security forces in Sara Rogha, located in Pakistan's South Waziristan in this February 7, 2005 file photo. A fellow commander in the Pakistani Taliban insisted that Baitullah Mehsud, the movement's leader, was alive, the BBC reported on August 8, 2009, rejecting government claims he had been eliminated in a U.S. drone strike. Reuters Pictures 3 months ago

Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud (R) is seen after a meeting with security forces in Sara Rogha, located in Pakistan's South Waziristan in this February 7, 2005 file photo. A fellow commander in the Pakistani Taliban insisted that Baitullah Mehsud, the movement's leader, was alive, the BBC reported on August 8, 2009, rejecting government claims he had been eliminated in a U.S. drone strike.

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  1. Pakistanis gather by portraits of soldiers killed in a militant siege on the army's Rawalpindi headquarters to pay tribute in Lahore on October 14, 2009. The feared Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) group has vowed to avenge their leader Baitullah Mehsud's death in a US missile strike in the lawless northwest tribal region of South Waziristan on August 5. The Islamist extremist group has already claimed a weekend raid on Pakistan's army headquarters, when gunmen took 42 hostages in a brazen siege ending with nine militants, 11 soldiers and three hostages killed.

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  1. A Pakistani boy stands on the front step of his house at sunset in Rawalpindi on the outskirts of capital Islamabad, on October 14, 2009. After a brief lull following the death of Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud in a US missile strike in August, Pakistan has again been plunged into crisis with a wave of militant attacks killing 125 people in eight days.
  2. A Pakistani driver steers his tuk-tuk taxi through Rawalpindi on the outskirts of the capital Islamabad, on October 14, 2009. After a brief lull following the death of Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud in a US missile strike in August, Pakistan has again been plunged into crisis with a wave of militant attacks killing 125 people in eight days.
  3. A police officer directs heavy traffic at rush hour in Rawalpindi on the outskirts of the capital Islamabad, on October 14, 2009. After a brief lull following the death of Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud in a US missile strike in August, Pakistan has again been plunged into crisis with a wave of militant attacks killing 125 people in eight days.
  4. A Pakistani man pulls a cart laden with plastic pipes at sunset in Rawalpindi on the outskirts of the capital Islamabad on October 14, 2009. After a brief lull following the death of Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud in a US missile strike in August, Pakistan has again been plunged into crisis with a wave of militant attacks killing 125 people in eight days.
  5. Pakistani boys fly a kite at sunset in Rawalpindi on the outskirts of the capital Islamabad on October 14, 2009. After a brief lull following the death of Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud in a US missile strike in August, Pakistan has again been plunged into crisis with a wave of militant attacks killing 125 people in eight days.
  6. Pakistani labourers stack old wooden window frames into a truck at dusk in Rawalpindi on the outskirts of the capital Islamabad on October 14, 2009. After a brief lull following the death of Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud in a US missile strike in August, Pakistan has again been plunged into crisis with a wave of militant attacks killing 125 people in eight days.
  7. Two Pakistani boys talk on a bridge at dusk in Rawalpindi on the outskirts of capital Islamabad on October 14, 2009. After a brief lull following the death of Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud in a US missile strike in August, Pakistan has again been plunged into crisis with a wave of militant attacks killing 125 people in eight days.
  8. A Pakistani woman peaks out from her front door at sunset in Rawalpindi on the outskirts of capital Islamabad on October 14, 2009. After a brief lull following the death of Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud in a US missile strike in August, Pakistan has again been plunged into crisis with a wave of militant attacks killing 125 people in eight days.
  9. Pakistanis place flowers by portraits of soldiers killed in a militant siege on the army's Rawalpindi headquarters to pay tribute in Lahore on October 14, 2009. The feared Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) group has vowed to avenge their leader Baitullah Mehsud's death in a US missile strike in the lawless northwest tribal region of South Waziristan on August 5. The Islamist extremist group has already claimed a weekend raid on Pakistan's army headquarters, when gunmen took 42 hostages in a brazen siege ending with nine militants, 11 soldiers and three hostages killed.
  10. Pakistanis scatter petals by portraits of soldiers killed in a militant siege on the army's Rawalpindi headquarters to pay tribute in Lahore on October 14, 2009. The feared Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) group has vowed to avenge their leader Baitullah Mehsud's death in a US missile strike in the lawless northwest tribal region of South Waziristan on August 5. The Islamist extremist group has already claimed a weekend raid on Pakistan's army headquarters, when gunmen took 42 hostages in a brazen siege ending with nine militants, 11 soldiers and three hostages killed.
  11. Pakistanis gathered by portraits of soldiers killed in a militant siege on the army's Rawalpindi headquarters scatter petals to pay tribute in Lahore on October 14, 2009. The feared Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) group has vowed to avenge their leader Baitullah Mehsud's death in a US missile strike in the lawless northwest tribal region of South Waziristan on August 5. The Islamist extremist group has already claimed a weekend raid on Pakistan's army headquarters, when gunmen took 42 hostages in a brazen siege ending with nine militants, 11 soldiers and three hostages killed.
  12. Pakistanis gather by portraits of soldiers killed in a militant siege on the army's Rawalpindi headquarters to pay tribute in Lahore on October 14, 2009. The feared Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) group has vowed to avenge their leader Baitullah Mehsud's death in a US missile strike in the lawless northwest tribal region of South Waziristan on August 5. The Islamist extremist group has already claimed a weekend raid on Pakistan's army headquarters, when gunmen took 42 hostages in a brazen siege ending with nine militants, 11 soldiers and three hostages killed.
  13. A Pakistani Sikh places a flower arrangement in front of portraits of soldiers killed in a militant siege on the army's Rawalpindi headquarters to pay tribute in Lahore on October 14, 2009. The feared Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) group has vowed to avenge their leader Baitullah Mehsud's death in a US missile strike in the lawless northwest tribal region of South Waziristan on August 5. The Islamist extremist group has already claimed a weekend raid on Pakistan's army headquarters, when gunmen took 42 hostages in a brazen siege ending with nine militants, 11 soldiers and three hostages killed.
  14. UPDATES: ADDS the name Hakimullah Mehsud who replaced Baitullah Mehsud in August. Map shows the Taliban and related groups in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
  15. Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik gestures during a press conference in Islamabad, Pakistan on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2009. Malik said the Taliban carried out the attack to avenge the Aug. 5 slaying of their leader, Baitullah Mehsud, in a U.S. drone attack.
  16. Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud (C) sits with other millitants in South Waziristan October 4, 2009 in this video grab taken from footage released October 5, 2009. Hakimullah, the new chief of Pakistani Taliban militants who U.S. and Pakistani officials said might be dead, has surfaced to meet journalists in his stronghold of South Waziristan. Hakimullah, who became Pakistani Taliban chief after his predecessor, Baitullah Mehsud, was killed in a U.S. missile strike in early August, looked healthy in pictures broadcast by Pakistan's Dawn Television on October 5, 2009.

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