Peshawar, Pakistan - Pakistan said on Monday that a Taliban commander with a $234 000 (about R1,8-million) price on his head had been killed in a shootout with soldiers in the country's notorious North Waziristan region.
The military said Ameerullah Mehsud was one of the top commanders in the Pakistani Taliban, the group blamed for some of the deadliest bomb attacks of a three-year campaign that has killed more than 3 400 people.
He also went by the alias of Qari Gud, which means "the man who limps", and Mazloomyar, which means "friend of the oppressed" in the Pashtu language.
Mehsud was reportedly shot dead at a checkpoint in Miranshah, the main town of North Waziristan, where Pakistani commanders have felt under increasing US pressure to launch a decisive campaign against Islamist strongholds.
"His head money was 20 million rupees (234,000 dollars). Two soldiers were also wounded in the shootout," the military said in a statement. The gunbattle took place in Miranshah on Sunday, it added.
Mehsud was listed 11 out of 19 most-wanted Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) commanders for whom the government last November posted combined rewards worth five million dollars for information leading to their capture, dead or alive.
He was wanted for attacking security forces, kidnapping for ransom and "other anti-state activities," it added.
Pakistan said he was TTP commander for Makeen and Razmak, a Taliban stronghold in South Waziristan about 430km south-west of the capital Islamabad.
Pakistan fought a bloody campaign to push the militant group out of their South Waziristan headquarters late last year. Many militants are believed to have escaped to North Waziristan and other parts of the lawless tribal belt.
Pakistan ground troops, backed by jet fighters and helicopter gunships, are pressing campaigns against the TTP in much of the tribal belt, which falls outside direct government control and snakes the border with Afghanistan.
The United States have welcomed the campaigns. Washington calls the tribal belt the most dangerous region on Earth and say al-Qaeda and its allies are plotting terror attacks on the West.
It was not immediately clear whether anyone would be rewarded in connection with Mehsud's death. - Sapa-AFP