Pak Al Qaeda chief killed in US drone attack: Officials

Herald Globe (ANI) Thursday 9th February, 2012

The US drone attack in a Miranshah compound near the Pak- Afghan border in early hours of Thursday killed an Al Qaeda's chief in Pakistan, one of the US' main targets, officials have said.

Badr Mansoor sent fighters to Afghanistan and ran a training camp in North Waziristan.

"He died in the missile attacks overnight in Miranshah. His death is a major blow to al Qaeda's abilities to strike in Pakistan," a senior Pakistani official was quoted, as saying.

His death was confirmed by one of his loyalists, The Express Tribune reports.

Intelligence officials in North Waziristan also said Mansoor had been killed but other Pakistani officials were divided on the issue.

A US drone attack had killed four insurgents in North Waziristan early morning on Thursday.

Officials said the death toll could rise due to damage to buildings next to the one targeted by the drone.

This strike followed a drone attack on a compound in Tappi, 10 kilometres (six miles) southeast of Miranshah, which security officials said, killed 10 insurgents.

Several militant groups, including the Afghan Taliban and al Qaeda, operate in Pakistan's border tribal regions, taking advantage of a porous border with Afghanistan to conduct cross-border attacks.

North Waziristan is also an important base for the al Qaeda-linked Haqqani network, an Afghan militant faction allied with the Taliban. (ANI)