Pakistan is offering massive rewards for information leading to the capture, dead or alive, of the major Taliban leaders.
The rewards for Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Hakimullah Mehsud and 18 other lieutenants were offered in a government advertisement on the front page of the local English newspaper The News daily on Monday
and were also flashed on Pakistani television channels overnight.
"Anyone who captures these people dead or alive or provides concrete information, the government will award them a cash reward," it said in Urdu language.
"The banned Tehreek-e-Taliban terrorists are daily involved in deadly activities and because of their activities innocent Muslims are going to the
valley of death," it added.
The largest rewards, of 50 million Pakistan rupees (about 0.6 million U.S. dollars), were offered respectively for TTP chief Hakimullah Mehsud, senior leader Wali ur-Rehman Mehsud and Qari Hussain Mehsud, once described as a master trainer of suicide bombers.
Eleven other commanders had rewards of 20 million rupees (about 0.24 million dollars) and rewards of 10 million rupees (about 0.12 million
dollars) were on offer for five others.
The Taliban militants have been blamed for some of the worst attacks in Pakistan, which have killed around 2,400 people in a deadly wave of carnage
over the past two years.
The hardcore faction TTP has also claimed responsibility for many strikes in a recent surge in bloodshed, in which more than 300 people died
last month, as the military launched a ground offensive against the strong base of the militants in South Waziristan.