Pakistani Taliban chief alive, says relative

PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Aug 5 (Reuters) - Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud was not present when a U.S. missile killed his wife on Wednesday in an attack that targeted the house of his father-in-law, a relative said.

"Baitullah is safe and alive," Iqbal Mehsud, a cousin of the militant's dead wife told Reuters by telephone.

A security official said at least two militants were also killed in the strike on the Makeen village in Pakistan's South Waziristan tribal region.

(Reporting by Alamgir Bitani, writing by Zeeshan Haider; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore and Sanjeev Miglani)