A key Al Qaeda leader identified as Umer Farooq alias Umer Ustad and Ustad Farooq was killed in a US drone strike along with four others in North Waziristan’s Dattakhel area on Sunday.
The drone fired two missiles at a compound in Dattakhel’s Khat Tangi area, killing the five suspected terrorists and injuring three others.
Ustad Farooq has in the past served as al Qaeda’s spokesman in Pakistan. He was reportedly the first Pakistani national to be promoted to a leadership position in the terror outfit, emerging as its spokesman for the South Asia region in 2009. He is believed to be the operational incharge of al Qaeda for Afghanistan and Pakistan
Sunday’s strike comes a day after the Pakistan Army confirmed the killing of wanted Al Qaeda leader Adnan Shukrijumah during a raid at a compound in Shin Warsak area of South Waziristan Agency on Saturday.
9 PAKISTANI TALIBAN KILLED IN AFGHANISTAN DRONE ATTACK:
Meanwhile in Afghanistan, a suspected US drone strike killed nine Pakistani Taliban fighters in a rural village near the border.
Provincial police chief Gen Abdul Habib Sayedkhili said Sunday that the strike happened Saturday in Kunar province’s Shigal District.
He said the strike on the village of Shiltan killed a senior Pakistani Taliban commander and wounded one.
The Taliban had no immediate comment about the strike.
Taliban fighters from Pakistan and Afghanistan frequently cross the mountainous borders of the two countries to launch attacks on local troops and NATO forces.
