Top Pak Taliban leader killed in US drone strike

Taliban calls reports of deputy chief Waliur Rehmans killing false

Deputy chief of the Pakistani Taliban Waliur Rehman was reportedly among four persons killed in a US drone attack in North Waziristan tribal region Wednesday,the first such strike since the countrys general elections.

The CIA-operated spy plane targeted a house in Chashma Pul area of Miranshah,the main town of North Waziristan Agency,early Wednesday. Four suspected militants in the house were killed two injured.

Rehman,the deputy chief of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan,was among the dead,security officials told journalists. The officials claimed they had reached the conclusion on the basis of information from the field and intercepts of communications between militants.

Story continues below this ad

However,a Taliban spokesman told news channels that the report of Rehmans death was false. The development could not be independently confirmed as most of North Waziristan is controlled by Taliban warlords.

This was the first missile strike since Pakistans landmark general elections on May 11 and the announcement of a new policy for the use of drones by President Barack Obama.

Pakistans Foreign Office reacted strongly to the attack,and a brief statement issued by spokesman Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry said the government had serious concerns over the US drone strike. Pakistan has consistently maintained that the drone strikes are counter-productive,entail loss of innocent civilian lives,have human rights and humanitarian implications and violate the principles of national sovereignty,territorial integrity and international law, the statement said.

The US has a $5 million bounty out on Rehman,who it has accused of involvement in the 2009 suicide attack on a US base in Afghanistan that killed seven Americans working for the CIA. With AP