PESHAWAR: A meeting of the Pakistani Taliban’s Shura (Council) on Saturday named Khan Said Sajna aka Khalid as the next chief of the banned Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan militant organisation a day after a US drone strike killed its former leader Hakimullah Mehsud in North Waziristan.
Most of the members of the council were present in the meeting which was held at an undisclosed location though all members could not attend it.
Said, who is 36, is credited with masterminding a 2012 jailbreak in which the Taliban freed 400 inmates in the northwestern city of Bannu.
The council was considering four names for the post which included Khan Said, Umar Khalid Khurasani, Mullah Fazlullah and Ghalib Mehsud.
The South Waziristan Taliban chief, Khan Said Sajna alias Khalid, was tipped to succeed Hakimullah Mehsud as TTP chief.
Chief of Mohmand Taliban Umar Khalid Khurasani was also a strong contender for the slot as he was the only surviving senior Taliban commander who had directly commanded operations under Hakimullah.
Mullah Fazlullah, chief of the Swat Taliban, was another senior commander but he was unlikely to replace the assassinated TTP chief for not belonging to the Mehsud clan.
Hakimullah Mehsud and five other Taliban militants were killed and two others wounded on Friday when a US drone targeted the TTP chief’s vehicle as he left a meeting at a mosque in Dande Darpakhel area of North Waziristan.
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