Taliban Chief is claiming responsibility.

” A Pakistani Taliban militant leader has claimed responsibility for the attack on a U.S. immigration center in New York state in which 13 people were killed, Reuters reported.

“I accept responsibility. They were my men. I gave them orders in reaction to U.S. drone attacks,” Baituallah Mehsud told Reuters by telephone from an undisclosed location on Saturday.

U.S. officials were not immediately available for comment about Mehsud’s claim, Reuters reported, and one Pakistani security analyst dismissed the claim as a publicity stunt.

Representative Maurice Hinchey, whose district includes Binghamton, told the New York Times that indications are the gunman was an immigrant from Vietnam.

Mehsud’s claim comes as a suspected U.S. drone fired two missiles at an alleged militant hide-out Saturday in northwestern Pakistan, killing 13 people.”

While some are dismissing his claims as a bit of chest puffing, this isn’t something that a Taliban leader would brag about if there wasn’t some truth to it. He would lose credibility among his people for such a lie.

UPDATE: FBI is ruling it out. Just for clarification I stand by the assertion that it would be rather unusual for such a leader – a pillar of Taliban law – to fib. Such a breach would subject him to risk imprisonment, flogging, or execution.

Which makes it rather doubtful now that Meshud never issued the brag in the first place.

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