"The real war is the media war. It is our desire to learn also how one should fight the media war," Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan commander Baitullah Mehsud said.

Mehsud paved the way for the Taliban's ‘media counter-offensive’ last week by meeting over 30 journalists from national and international media organisations in the restive South Waziristan tribal area on Friday.

His rare appearance before the press came close on the heels of the Pakistan Army airlifting around 20 journalists to Spinkai Raghzai on May 18 to showcase forward positions in areas from which militants were ousted during ‘Operation Zalzala’.

"The Taliban have not been very advanced as far as the media war is concerned. But we are making efforts to catch up with the latest methods, and we will soon be available on YouTube," a 'non-combatant' member of the Taliban's media cell told the Daily Times with his face covered to hide his identity.

When the journalists visited Waziristan at the invitation of Mehsud, it "became apparent that the militants had returned", the newspaper reported.

Local residents said the militants had come back on May 20, a day after the army readjusted its positions to facilitate the return of Mehsud families that were displaced by months of fighting.

Baitullah Mehsud also sought to win over journalists by terming the murder of a television journalist in Bajaur tribal agency as ‘unforgivable’.

He assured the journalists that his organisation would ‘hang the killers’ of the correspondent if they were identified.

Access to the latest technology does not appear to be a problem for the Taliban. Their media cell is equipped with the latest digital video cameras and laptops to record every moment of the ‘biggest Taliban media show’.

Senior BBC Urdu reporter Haroon Rashid said the media show put on by the Taliban underscored the ‘complete control of the militants’ over Waziristan.

The Taliban media cell has been releasing video CDs with horrific images, apparently with different aims.

One video, screened during an army briefing for the media on May 18, shows a boy aged about 10 firing shots at the head of a blindfolded man and beheading another.

"Such images leave a deep impact on viewers. It is part of Taliban psychological warfare to break down opponents psychologically," a retired army expert on psychological warfare told Daily Times in Peshawar.

Pakistani Taliban groups aligned to Mehsud are holding separate peace talks with Pakistani authorities.

Mehsud's representatives too have been in touch with Pakistani officials to finalise a formal peace agreement.

In recent weeks, the Taliban and security forces have swapped prisoners, including Pakistan's Ambassador to Afghanistan Tariq Azizuddin, who was kidnapped in February.