PESHAWAR: A US drone strike in North waziristan on Friday killed Tehreek-e- Taliban Pakistan(TTP) commander Hakimullah Mehsud, security and militant sources said, dealing a major blow to the militant network.
The drone fired two missiles at a vehicle in a compound near Miranshah, security officials said.
"Hakimullah Mehsud is dead," a security official in Peshawar told AFP.
Three local intelligence officials in Miranshah confirmed the death, while a senior TTP source said Mehsud was killed in the strike along with his bodyguard, driver and uncle.
Mehsud's death came a week after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif urged US President Barack Obama to stop drone strikes during a meeting in Washington.
Three insurgents were killed in another drone strike on Thursday that also targeted a suspected militant compound near Miranshah.
Washington offered a reward of up to $5 million for information on his whereabouts and added the TTP to a blacklist of foreign terrorist groups.
Mehsud took control of the TTP after a bitter fight for the leadership after a US drone killed founder Baitullah Mehsud in August 2009.
Mehsud's number two Waliur Rehman perished in a drone strike in North Waziristan in May, just weeks after Sharif won the general election after pledging to explore talks with the militants.
Comments
Comments are closed.