I've been following the reports of his death- not just the latest reports, but all the reports of his death. This is a guy who has been reported dead at least three times now. The chief of the Pakistani Taliban replaced Baitullah Mehsud last year following death-by-drone and the only real way we had to confirm Baitullah Mehsud's death was by the official statements of the Pakistani Taliban itself.
The latest statement by the Pakistani Taliban leads me to believe he is almost definitely dead and I don't mind going out on a limb by saying that.
The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan group had promised to provide proof of Hakimullah Mehsud's survival. It was Hakimullah Mehsud himself who's calls refuted previous reports of his demise. Now, however, TTP spokesman Azam Tariq is saying they don't presently feel a need to refute the reports.
Per the Associated Press;
"We are not going to fall prey to this trap and make our leader vulnerable to the spy network, and secondly, the leadership council has restricted the leader from speaking to the media for certain reasons," said Tariq.
This feels an awful lot like the aftermath of Baitullah's death.
A Taliban source in North Waziristan told the Washington Post that Hakimullah Mehsud was seriously injured by a drone attack and that his health had deteriorated. While this same Talib commander also claims to have spoken to Hakimullah as recently as Sunday, this is pretty much exactly like the aftermath of Baitullah's death. That leadership council that has supposedly restricted the chief from speaking is probably trying to figure out who the new chief is going to be, and only then might they announce Hakimullah Mehsud's death.
ABC has a report up saying that the Pakistani Taliban is in fact meeting to choose a new leader. The News says an interim chief has already been selected.
There are also multiple reports(Washington Post, Imtiaz Gul of Foreign Policy) that top deputy Qari Hussain Mehsud was also killed in a recent drone strike. Qari Hussain is the top bomb-maker in the TTP and is also known to train children for suicide bombings- his death would be a major blow to the TTP.
As I said before, we'll have to wait for the official Taliban announcement before knowing for sure if Hakimullah Mehsud has perished. But it increasingly looks like he has. Good riddance- but don't be mistaken, this is far from over.