DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan (AP) — After weeks of denials, two Pakistani Taliban commanders acknowledged Tuesday that the group’s top leader, Baitullah Mehsud, was dead — claiming he died 18 days after a U.S. missile strike and disputing reports that the al-Qaida linked movement he left behind was falling apart. Pakistani officials have said the Taliban were in disarray after Mehsud was killed in a CIA missile strike earlier this month.- – – -Contact The Daily Reveille’s news staff at [email protected]