Pakistani Taliban commander killed in US drone strike

Islamabad, March 19: The Pakistani Taliban said on Thursday that a senior commander, Khawrey Mehsud, has been killed in a US drone strike. Spokesman for the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Muhammad Khorasani, confirmed that Khawrey died near the Pakistan-Afghan border region on March 18, Xinhua news agency reported. Two other TTP men were also killed in the same strike on the Afghan side of the border opposite to Pakistan’s Shabak area of Kurram tribal agency. The slain TTP commander was among the few senior commanders who had been close to the TTP founder Baitullah Mehsud. Baitullah was killed in an American drone attack in 2009, two years after he formed the TTP. Khawrey once served as the persol guard of the TTP chief, Hakimulalh Mehsud, who was killed in a US strike in North Waziristan in November 2013. The TTP spokesman said Khawrey had also fought in the Afghan provinces of Paktika, Kur and Khost besides fighting the security forces in several Pakistani tribal regions. (IANS)