The Pakistani Taliban confirmed on Monday that their deputy leader was killed in a suspected U.S. drone strike last week and said they had appointed a new deputy in his place. A pair of suspected U.S. missile strikes killed the militant leader, Khalid Mehsud, also known by his alias Sajna, on Thursday last week in Afghanistan's Paktika province, near the border with Pakistan, Pakistani security officials said. "We confirm that deputy head of the TTP Khalid Mehsud died in a drone strike," said the spokesman, Mohammad Khurasani. He said Pakistani Taliban chief Mullah Fazlullah appointed a commander called Mufti Noor Wali Wali to replace their dead deputy. While U.S. and Afghan forces accuse Pakistan of failing to stop Afghan Taliban militants using safe havens on the Pakistani side of the border, Pakistani Taliban militants have been waging a campaign of bombings and other attacks on Pakistan's security forces.

Source: dna February 12, 2018 12:22 UTC