Al-Qaida’s chief in Pakistan, who once fought in Jammu and Kashmir, was among four terrorists killed in a US drone attack in Pakistan’s North Waziristan tribal region on last Thursday. Badar Mansoor, a former commander of the banned Harkat-ul-Mujahideen militant group that was active in Kashmir, was killed with three others when a spy plane fired two missiles at a compound in Miranshah, North Waziristan tribal agency officials were quoted as saying by TV news channels.
This was the second drone attack since Wednesday when 10 militants were killed in a strike near Miranshah. Media reports described Mansoor as al-Qaida’s chief in Pakistan. He was a key target for the US and was wanted for several attacks. This was the second drone attack since Wednesday when 10 militants were killed in a strike near Miranshah. Pakistani Taliban militants had begun hiding in buildings they had rented in Miranshah, officials were quoted as saying. Mansoor, who served as a conduit between the Taliban and al-Qaida, reportedly ran a training camp in North Waziristan, from where he sent militants to Afghanistan.
Mansoor belonged to Dera Ghazi Khan in Punjab province and had close links with the Punjabi Taliban. Pakistani officials were quoted by the media as saying that Mansoor’s death was a “major blow” to al-Qaida. Mansoor became the head of al-Qaida in Pakistan after militant commander Ilyas Kashmiri was reported killed in a drone strike in June last year. He was linked to terror attacks in Karachi and a deadly assault on mosques of the minority Ahmadi community in Lahore that killed nearly 100 people in May 2010.