A Pakistani militant leader who was thought to have been killed by a U.S. drone strike in January has appeared in a new Internet video, vowing attacks on American cities. The video of Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud surfaced early Monday.
It was released shortly after another clip appeared on YouTube, in which the group claimed responsibility for the failed bomb attempt in Times Square. Counter-terrorism analysts dismiss that claim as highly unlikely, noting that the organization has displayed no ability to strike beyond Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The video of a healthy-looking Mehsud, which appeared to have been filmed in April, was the first concrete evidence of what his fighters have insisted for four months: that he escaped the drone strike and was not incapacitated by it.
In the weeks following the January missile strike in South Waziristan, Pakistani and U.S. officials said they were confident -- even certain -- Mehsud had been killed. That development was hailed as a huge blow to a militant organization that has carried out a steady campaign of attacks inside Pakistan over two years, and whose previous leader was killed by a U.S. drone last summer.