Pentagon: Taliban's Mehsud no longer running group

The Pentagon said on Thursday that the Pakistani Taliban militant group was no longer being run by Hakimullah Mehsud, who Pakistani intelligence officials now believe survived a CIA drone aircraft strike in January.

"I certainly have seen no evidence that the person you speak of (Mehsud) is operational today or is executing or exerting authority over the Pakistan Taliban as he once did. So I don't know if that reflects him being alive or dead, but he clearly is not running the Pakistani Taliban anymore," Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell told a news conference. (Reuters)