Pakistan Taliban leader Mullah Fazlullah killed
June 15, 2018
The leader of the Pakistani Taliban, Mullah Fazlullah, was reported to have been killed in a US-Afghan drone strike in northeastern Kunar province.
"I confirm that Mullah Fazlullah, leader of the Pakistani Taliban, has been killed in a joint air operation in the border area of Marawera district of Kunar province," said Mohammad Radmanish, a spokesman for the Afghan Defense Ministry, according to news agency Reuters.
The airstrike was conducted at about 9 a.m. local time on Thursday, Radmanish added.
Read more: Is the US bypassing Pakistan for new Taliban strategy?
A spokesman for the US forces in Afghanistan on Friday would only confirm that a "senior leader of a designated terror organization" had been targeted in a drone strike in Afghanistan's Kunar province.
A spokesman for the Pakistani army said it could not confirm that Fazlullah was killed in the drone strike.
Read more: Terror attacks - Af-Pak relations hit a new low
Fazlullah behind Malala murder attempt
Fazlullah was elected to lead the Pakistani Taliban in 2013 after the death of his predecessor, Hakimullah Mehsud, in a US drone strike.
He is responsible for ordering the 2014 school massacre that killed 132 children and the 2012 shooting of schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai, who later became the world's youngest Nobel laureate.
Read more: Malala Yousafzai – loved abroad, maligned at home
In March, the US State Department announced a $5 million reward for information leading to Fazlullah.
law/msh (AP, dpa, Reuters)