Islamabad - Baitullah Mehsud, leader of Pakistan's Taliban militants died from illness, news reports said Wednesday.

Mehsud, believed to be in his 30s, suffered from high blood pressure and kidney disease, the GEO TV television said.

The leader of a united front of smaller Taliban groups called the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, or Pakistan Taliban Movement, Mehsud was blamed for the murder of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto in December by Pakistan's former government, a claim he reportedly denied.

According to other news reports, Taliban leaders denied the death of the ethnic Pashtun guerilla commander, who was based in South Waziristan, a Taliban stronghold on the border with Afghanistan. (dpa)