- Notorious militant leader targeted in US-Afghan airstrike on Pakistan border
- Pakistan’s ‘most-wanted’ carried out a school massacre that killed 132 children
- Mullah Fazlullah ordered the hit on Nobel Peace Prize recipient Malala Yousafzai
Pakistan Taliban leader Mullah Fazlullah has been killed in a US-Afghan air strike in Afghanistan, a senior Afghan Defence Ministry official said on Friday.
The US military said it had carried out a strike aimed at a senior militant figure in Kunar, which is on the Pakistani border, on Thursday.
A US official said the target was believed to be Fazlullah.
Fazlullah was notorious for attacks that included the 2012 shooting of schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai, who was later awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
In 2014, Pakistan’s most-wanted militant led school massacre that killed 132 children.
A spokesman for Afghan defence ministry told Reuters: ‘I confirm that Mullah Fazlullah, leader of the Pakistani Taliban, has been killed in an joint air operation in the border area of Marawera district of Kunar province.’
The air strike was carried out at about 9am on Thursday.
Fazlullah’s death is likely to ease tension between the United States and Pakistan.
Afghanistan is currently observing an unprecedented three-day ceasefire with the larger Afghan Taliban.
Pakistan is considered key to persuading Afghan Taliban leaders, who Washington believes shelter on Pakistani soil, to open negotiations to end the 17-year-old war.
In March, the United States offered a $5 million (£3.75 million) reward for information on Fazlullah.
A member of the Pakistani Taliban told Reuters on Friday the group was trying to get word from Afghanistan, where most of the Pakistani Taliban fighters are based.
‘We have been hearing since early Friday that our Emir (leader) was martyred along with four other militant commanders in Marawar area of Kunar.
They were staying at a house when a drone fired missiles and martyred them,’ said Taliban member Maulvi Abdur Rasheed.
Fazlullah emerged as an Islamist leader in the Swat Valley, northwest of the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, more than a decade ago.
He was known as ‘Mullah Radio’ for his fiery broadcasts.
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