Drone strike in South Waziristan

“Today, on the 16th of January, I am saying it again - I am alive, I am OK, I am not injured... when the drone strike took place, I was not present in the area at that time,” Mehsud said.

“If the drone attacks continue, the TTP will not be responsible for any dangerous steps in future -- the government of Pakistan will be responsible,” Mehsud warned in Saturday's recording. Sunday's attack was the tenth missile strike by an unmanned US spy plane so far this year, as the administration of US President Barack Obama puts Pakistan at the heart of its fight against Al-Qaeda and Islamist extremists.

A US drone attack Sunday killed at least 20 militants in a restive Pakistani tribal area bordering Afghanistan, where Pakistani Taliban chief escaped an attack four days ago

Missiles fired from an unmanned US aircraft killed at least 15 Islamist insurgents at a training camp in the lawless northwest tribal belt on Thursday, when security officials said Mehsud may have been among the dead.