Sunday, June 15, 2025
spot_img

Pak warlord among 10 killed in US drone strike

Date:

Share post:

spot_imgspot_img

Islamabad: Pakistani pro-government warlord Mullah Nazir and his deputy were among 10 Taliban fighters killed on Thursday in fresh wave of US drone strikes in the country’s restive Waziristan tribal region. Nazir, his deputy Ratta Khan and four more militants were killed when a CIA-operated spy plane targeted a vehicle in Angoor Adda area of South Waziristan Agency early on Thursday morning.

Security officials were quoted by the Pakistani media as saying that Nazir was killed in the strike. He was the main militant commander in South Waziristan near the Pak-Afghan border considered to be the base for al-Qaeda, the Taliban and other Islamist foreign militants. Nazir was also a powerful elder of the Waziri tribe and understood to be close to the al-Qaeda-linked Haqqani network. Nazir had reached a peace deal with the Pakistan military in 2007 under which he had promised not to indulge in militant activities on the Pakistani soil.

But the Americans viewed him as anti-US, blaming him for sending his fighters to attack its forces in Afghanistan.

Officials said Nazir was heading to Wana, the main town of South Waziristan, when his vehicle was attacked. Hours after the attack that killed Nazir, four more Taliban fighters were killed in a US drone strike in adjacent North Waziristan Agency. Taliban commander Faisal Khan and two Uzbek fighters were among the dead, sources said.

These were the first drone strikes of the new year. The US has continued its drone campaign in the tribal belt bordering Afghanistan despite protests from Pakistan, which says the attacks are counter-productive and a violation of its sovereignty.

Nazir had differences with the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan led by Hakimullah Mehsud and was injured in a suicide attack in Wana on November 29 that killed seven persons.

Nazir’s Wazir tribe expelled members of the Mehsud tribe from Wana and adjoining areas after the suicide attack. In 2007, Nazir led a tribal ‘lashkar’ or militia and expelled Uzbek fighters from Wana. But he was suspected of sheltering militants from other countries.

Nazir’s group had also formed an alliance with a Taliban faction in North Waziristan led by Hafiz Gul Bahadar. The two commanders formed the “Shura-e-Mujahideen” and declared Afghan Taliban commander Mullah Omar as their chief. Security analysts said the killing of Nazir could prompt his fighters to launch attacks on Pakistani security forces. (PTI)

spot_imgspot_img

Related articles

Plane crash: 31 victims identified, search for Vijay Rupani’s mortal remains continues

Ahmedabad, June 15 :DNA tests have confirmed the identities of 31 victims killed in the catastrophic plane crash...

VIP chief defends Lalu Yadav; says Ambedkar is in our hearts, mind and soul

Patna, June 15 :Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) Chief and former Bihar Minister, Mukesh Sahani, has defended Rashtriya Janata...

‘I accept Congress’ decision’: Digvijaya Singh on his brother’s expulsion

Bhopal, June 15 :Senior Congress leader and former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh has released a statement...

Maha govt grants clearance to five foreign varsities to set up campuses in Navi Mumbai

Mumbai, June 15 : Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan have granted Letters...