Headlines 1600 15th June 2018

KABUL: A US drone strike in Afghanistan’s northeastern Kunar province has killed Mullah Fazlullah, the leader of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan Taliban (TTP), an official of Afghan government confirmed reports.

Afghan Ministry of Defence spokesman Mohammad Radmanish confirmed to foreign media that Mullah Fazlullah, who led the TTP from 2013, was killed in the attack on Wednesday.

US forces had conducted the strike close to the border of Pakistan, targeting the chief of the group, according US Forces-Afghanistan spokesman Lt. Col. Martin O’Donnell.

Fazlullah had been a major figure in the TTP even before he became its chief in late 2013, and once led a Taliban militia in Pakistan’s Swat Valley.