LEADER WHO TARGETED MALALA IS KILLED

A U.S. drone strike in northeastern Kunar province killed Pakistan Taliban chief Mullah Fazlullah, the insurgent leader who ordered the assassination of Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafza, Afghan officials say.

As well as terrorist outrages, Fazlullah also spearheaded a campaign against a government polio vaccination program, claiming it was a “conspiracy of Jews and Christians to make Muslims impotent and stunt the growth of Muslims.”

News of the attack came as Afghanis waited to see if an unprecedented threeday Taliban ceasefire would hold over the Eid holiday. Photos on social media appeared to show fighters and Afghan forces celebrating the truce together.

Fazlullah became notorious for ordering a string of attacks including the 2014 massacre of scores of pupils at an army school in Peshawar and the failed assassination of schoolgirl activist Malala Yousafzai.