ISLAMABAD, March 9: Al Qaeda has confirmed that an American drone strike killed one of its leaders in Pakistan last month.

The US-based Site monitoring service said on Friday that the confirmation of Badr Mansoor’s death came in a video statement by Ahmad Farooq, Al Qaeda’s head of media and preaching in Pakistan. The video has been released on an Internet jihadist forum.

Local Taliban fighters had previously said Mansoor had been killed in the Feb 9 strike. A militant video eulogising the dead is considered the most reliable way of knowing when a top ‘commander’ has been killed.

In the nine-minute video which featured photos of Mansoor alive and dead, Farooq accused Pakistan of collaborating with the strikes.

“America is now more eagerly attacking the Pakistani government’s targets,” he said.

“The drone programme is being run with the full consent, permission and cooperation of the Pakistani government.”—AP