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MIRAMSHAH: An important commander and four other militants were killed in a US drone attack in Miramshah on Thursday, a senior security official said.
Badar Mansoor, who led his own group of militants, had affiliation with the banned Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan – an umbrella organisation representing several shades of Pakistani militants – and Al Qaeda, the official told Dawn in Peshawar.
Sources said that Badar Mansoor belonged to Borikhel tribe in Kulachi area of Tank district, adjacent to South Waziristan. He moved to Miramshah about 15 years ago and led the Punjabi group of Taliban in Waziristan.
According to western news agencies he was the de facto leader of Al Qaeda in Pakistan Badar Mansoor, said to be in his late 30s, was wanted by Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and police in several terrorist attacks in the country, which left hundreds of people dead.
He was one of the five men who were killed when two missiles struck a house in the cattle market in Miramshah.
Sources said two women, one of them probably Badar’s wife, were injured in the attack and were taken to a private health centre.
A local tribesman said he was woken up by the sound of two huge explosions at about 4 am in the morning.
Militants rushed to the site immediately after the attack to clear the rubble and retrieve the bodies. —Pazir Gul
