Pak Taliban vows revenge, as Hamas condemns killing of 'holy warrior'

Pakistan's main Taliban faction yesterday threatened to attack Pakistan and the United States after the US confirmed that Osama bin Laden had been killed near the Pakistani capital. "If he has been martyred, we will avenge his death and launch attacks against American and Pakistani governments and their security forces," spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan told media organisations by telephone from an undisclosed location.



"Now Pakistani rulers, President Zardari and the army will be our first targets. America will be our second target," "These people are in fact the enemies of Islam," he added. The Taliban spokesman said the militia had not itself managed to confirm bin Laden's death, which was announced by US President Barack Obama. "If he has become a martyr, it is a great victory for us because martyrdom is the aim of all of us."

Hamas reacts
The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas condemned the killing by US forces of Osama bin Laden and mourned him as an "Arab holy warrior." "We regard this as a continuation of the American policy based on oppression and the shedding of Muslim and Arab blood," said Ismail Haniyeh, head of the Hamas administration in the Gaza Strip.