US drone kills Taliban chief wanted in Malala attack

KABUL: Afghan President Ashraf Ghani confirmed Friday that Pakistani Taliban chief Maulana Fazlullah had been killed in a US drone strike.

Fazlullah is believed to have ordered the failed 2012 assassination of Malala Yousafzai, who became a global symbol of the fight for girls’ rights to schooling, and who later won the Nobel Peace Prize.

US forces targeted Fazlullah in a counterterrorism strike on Thursday in eastern Kunar province, close to the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, US officials said, without confirming his death.

“I spoke with Prime Minister of üPakistan Nasir ul Mulk and Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa and confirmed the death of Mullah Fazlullah,” Ghani tweeted, adding: “His death is the result of tireless human intel led by üAfghan security agencies.”

Ghani added the Pakistani leaders had assured him the strike was a “a great step toward building trust between the two nations,” while urging them to “bring (the) Afghan Taliban residing in Pakistan to the negotiation table.”

Pakistan has long been accused of supporting the Afghan Taliban and providing safe haven to its leaders – charges Islamabad denies. Pakistan, in return, has accused Afghanistan of sheltering the Pakistani Taliban. Pakistan’s army called Fazlullah’s apparent death a “positive development.”

Fazlullah’s group – Tehreeke-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in Urdu – was behind the massacre of over 150 people at a Peshawar school in December 2014.

But the Pentagon would not confirm Fazlullah’s death, saying it can take time to gather definitive proof. Top militant leaders have been reported dead before – only to later resurface.

“We targeted (Fazlullah) but we’re not ready to call jackpot yet,” a US defence official said.