Pakistan Taliban chief’s son amongst 20 killed in ‘US drone strike’

Islamabad, Pakistan – As a minimum 20 participants of the Pakistani Taliban, including the son of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Mullah Fazlullah, had been killed in a US drone strike within the northeastern Afghan province of Kunar, per a Taliban teach.

The opponents, including Abdullah, had been killed in a strike on a TTP camp, the workers stated in a teach texted to native journalists in Pakistan’s Bajaur district, which borders Kunar, on Wednesday.

According to the teach, 20 fidayeen, or suicide bombers, had been killed, while one other six opponents had been wounded within the strike.

Prominent TTP commander Gul Muhammad and fidayeen trainer Yaseen had been also killed within the strike, Pakistani newspaper Fracture of day reported.

Pakistan has generally accused US and Afghan forces of now not doing ample to are attempting TTP forces resident on the Afghan facet of the risky Pakistan-Afghanistan border, where they fled following a series of protection force operations by Pakistan.

Whereas violence has dropped in recent years, the TTP and its mates proceed to make sporadic properly-organized-scale attacks concentrated on Pakistani safety forces and civilians.

Violence casualties

As a minimum 748 civilians and safety forces had been killed in violence perpetrated by the TTP and utterly different armed teams, integrated armed Baloch separatists, in 2017, down from a height of at the least three,739 in 2012, per the South Asia Terrorism Portal, a Sleek Delhi primarily based mostly compare organisation.

Pakistan’s protection force says that it has killed at the least four,000 opponents working for the TTP and its allies since 2013.

Al Jazeera is unable to independently test that quantity, as glean entry to to the battle areas is strictly managed, and the identities of these killed are seldom printed.

Pakistani Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua is in Washington DC this week for talks with the US aimed in direction of reducing tensions between the 2 erstwhile allies.

In January, US President Donald Trump reduce extra than $1.1bn in protection force assistance to Pakistan over allegations that it modified into once providing correct haven to participants of the Afghan Taliban and Haqqani Community.

Pakistan denies the prices, alleging that it’s miles being scapegoated for the failure of US-led coalition forces to assemble Afghanistan after extra than sixteen years of battle.

Most modern diplomatic contacts look like softening the divide between the 2 countries.

On Monday, senior US Scream Department legit Alice Wells stated the US recognised that Pakistan had « legit concerns » regarding the discipline in Afghanistan.

« They’ve concerns over border management; over the [Pakistani Taliban’s] presence in ungoverned dwelling in Afghanistan; refugee concerns, » she stated.

Extra reporting by Hameedullah Khan in Islamabad.