DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan – Pakistani Taliban deputy Hakimullah has called The Associated Press following reports that he was killed during a clash among militants seeking to succeed the group's leader.

Hakimullah spoke to an AP reporter who was familiar with his voice.

He said in Monday's call that the Pakistan Taliban remain united despite government reports that there is infighting.

He also insists that Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud is alive. The U.S. and Pakistan say they are nearly certain that Mehsud was killed in a CIA missile attack last week.

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