US sees signs of disarray within Pakistani Taliban

WASHINGTON Aug 12 (Reuters) - The U.S. special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan said on Wednesday there were signs of disarray within the Taliban in Pakistan following the apparent death of the group's leader in a missile strike.

Washington says there is a "90 percent certainty" that the Taliban leader, Baitullah Mehsud, was killed in a strike by a pilotless CIA drone earlier this month in South Waziristan. Mehsud's aides have disputed the claim and say he is alive.

"The end of Baitullah Mehsud, as we all know, is a very big deal," U.S. envoy Richard Holbrooke said, citing reports of "disarray among his people, of other factions maneuvering."

At a panel organized by a Washington think tank, Holbrooke said of the Taliban and its allies in Pakistan: "Everyone is thrashing around ... This is very good news for all of us."

"There's going to be some major readjustment coming up. We don't know what it is," he said of the groups.

At least seven militants were killed in northwest Pakistan on Wednesday in a clash between fighters loyal to Mehsud and his rivals, officials and residents said.

Mehsud is, or was, the leader of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or Taliban Movement of Pakistan, an alliance of around 13 militant groups, and is blamed for a wave of bomb and suicide attacks across Pakistan, including the one that killed former prime minister Benazir Bhutto in December 2007.

(Reporting by Adam Entous; Editing by Sandra Maler)

Afghanistan

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