Pakistan Taliban promote number two to replace slain leader

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan (Reuters) - The Pakistani Taliban voted on Saturday to promote their number two commander, Khan Said, also known as Sajna, to replace leader Hakimullah Mehsud who was killed in a strike by a U.S. drone, militant commanders and security sources said.

Said is believed to have masterminded an attack on a jail in northwest Pakistan that freed nearly 400 prisoners in 2012 and an attack on a Pakistani air force base in the same year.

Mehsud was killed by a U.S. drone in northwest Pakistan, near the Afghan border, on Friday.

(Writing By Katharine Houreld; Editing by Robert Birsel)

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