KARACHI, Pakistan — Pakistan’s Taliban has named as its new leader, a religious scholar known for running brutal extortion rackets and opposing polio vaccination campaigns, promoting violence against health workers across the country.

The elevation of the leader, Mufti Noor Wali Mehsud, comes after a United States drone strike in Afghanistan killed the group’s previous leader, Mullah Fazlullah, this month. In a statement on Saturday, Pakistan’s Taliban confirmed Mr. Fazlullah’s death and said it was a “matter of pride” that its leadership had been “martyred by infidels.”

The group’s deputy leader, Khan Sayed, who also went by the name Khalid Sajna, was killed by an American drone strike in February.

In the statement, Muhammad Khurasani, a spokesman for the group, said its executive council had appointed Mr. Mehsud, who also goes by Abu Mansoor Asim, as its new chief. It named Mufti Hazarat, a relatively unknown militant, as his deputy.