{"id":96883,"date":"2018-06-17T22:07:12","date_gmt":"2018-06-17T22:07:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/06\/17\/afghan-official-us-drone-kills-pakistan-taliban-chief\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T10:21:36","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T10:21:36","slug":"afghan-official-us-drone-kills-pakistan-taliban-chief","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/flashpoints\/2018\/06\/17\/afghan-official-us-drone-kills-pakistan-taliban-chief\/","title":{"rendered":"Afghan official: US drone kills Pakistan Taliban chief"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">KABUL, Afghanistan \u2014 A U.S. drone strike in northeastern Kunar province killed Pakistan Taliban chief Mullah Fazlullah, the insurgent leader who ordered the assassination of Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, an Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman said Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a telephone interview, Mohammad Radmanish said Fazlullah and two other insurgents were killed early Thursday morning, just hours before Afghanistan\u2019s Taliban began a three-day cease fire to mark the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr. The three-day holiday follows the end of Islam\u2019s holy month of Ramadan when devout adherents fast from sunrise to sunset.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/flashpoints\/2018\/03\/09\/us-drone-targeting-pakistani-taliban-kills-21-in-afghanistan\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/2500384.jpg_c497ca.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">US drone targeting Pakistani Taliban kills 21 in Afghanistan<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Two missiles fired from a U.S. drone hit a militant facility in neighboring Afghanistan, killing 21 insurgents, including the son of the head of the Pakistani Taliban, two Pakistani intelligence officials and local Taliban commanders said Thursday.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, Sakhi Mashwani, a Parliamentarian from Kunar province told the Associated Press that Fazlullah, along with five other insurgents, died when the strike slammed into the vehicle in which they were driving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mashwani said dozens of people, including Fazlullah\u2019s brother, Moheen Dada, gathered Friday in the Ghaziabad district of Kunar province, to offer prayers for the dead Taliban leader.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A U.S. official said the U.S. believes that it is likely the strike killed Fazlullah, but efforts are ongoing to confirm his death. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss preliminary information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"613\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18166358609467.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-95269\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18166358609467.jpg.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18166358609467.jpg.jpg?resize=300,180 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18166358609467.jpg.jpg?resize=768,460 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">In this Nov. 7, 2013, file photo, people watch a news report on TV about newly selected leader of Pakistani Taliban leader Mullah Fazlullah at a coffee shop in Islamabad, Pakistan. An Afghan defense ministry official says Friday, June 15, 2018, a US drone strike in northeastern Kunar province killed Fazlullah. (B.K. Bangash\/AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to a statement attributed to U.S. Forces-Afghanistan spokesman Lt. Col Martin O\u2019Donnell, the U.S. carried out a \u201ccounterterrorism strike\u201d Thursday in the border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan targeting \u201ca senior leader of a designated terrorist organization.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The statement did not say whether the strike had killed anyone and did not identify Fazlullah as the target. However, the statement did note that the drone attack did not violate a cease-fire announcement made June 7 by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani. The Taliban\u2019s promise of a temporary truce came on Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Radmanish said the drone attack took place in Marawara district, near the border.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pakistan\u2019s military refused to comment on the report of Fazlullah\u2019s death saying any information would have to come from Washington. Yet Fazlullah\u2019s death would be welcome news in Pakistan, where the government has repeatedly complained that Fazlullah and his Tehrik-e-Taliban had found safe havens across the border in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, Kabul and Washington both complain that Pakistan has for years allowed Afghanistan\u2019s Taliban free movement as well as medical treatment for battlefield wounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Still, the recent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/2018\/06\/17\/suicide-bomber-targets-afghans-celebrating-truce-killing-18\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">cease-fire announcement by Afghanistan\u2019s Taliban<\/a> is being at least partially credited to Pakistan, which some observers say has been pressing the leadership to accept President Ghani\u2019s recent peace overtures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In his Eid greeting this week, Afghan Taliban chief Haibatullah Akhunzada repeated the Taliban demand for direct talks with the United States before opening negotiations with the Afghan government. Until now, Washington has refused.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/flashpoints\/2018\/06\/07\/us-forces-to-honor-afghan-ceasefire\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"222\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/4403332.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">US forces to honor Afghan ceasefire<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The ceasefire would run in mid-June, the Afghan government said.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It was Yousafzai\u2019s open call for girls\u2019 education and criticism of the Taliban that infuriated Fazlullah. She was just 14 when she survived the assassination attempt in 2012. Her return to her hometown earlier this year seemed a particular triumph as it was also to open a school funded by a charity she established to promote girls education globally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She has often said that Fazlullah\u2019s attempts to silence her backfired and instead he amplified her voice around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A ruthless leader, Fazlullah ordered the bombing and beheadings of dozens of opponents when his band of insurgents controlled Pakistan\u2019s picturesque Swat Valley from 2007 until a massive military operation routed them in 2009.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In Yousafzai\u2019s hometown of Mingora in the Swat Valley, residents welcomed reports of Fazlullah\u2019s death with one resident saying many feared he would return one day to re-impose his violent rule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe witnessed the brutality of the Taliban in Swat when Fazlullah and his men were present here and we are happy to know that he has gone to hell,\u201d said Idrees Khan, a member of a local elders peace committee. \u201cPeople in Swat will feel safer after the killing of Fazlullah.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His insurgent group, the Tehrik-e-Taliban, also took responsibility for the brutal attack on an Army Public School in Pakistan\u2019s northwestern city of Peshawar in December 2014 when more than 140 children and their teachers were slaughtered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Survivors of the attack told of insurgents roaming through the school shooting their victims, some as young as six years old, in the head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mohammad Akhtar, whose 12-year-old son Fahad Khan died in the 2014 massacre, said he had been waiting for confirmation of \u201cterrorist Fazlullah\u2019s\u201d death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThank God, he is dead,\u201d he said after returning from a visit to his son\u2019s grave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Fazlullah rose to prominence through radio broadcasts in Swat demanding the imposition of Islamic law, earning him the nickname \u201cMullah Radio.\u201d His radio talks also aired the grievances of many in the northwest against the government, such as its slow-moving justice system. He also reached out to women, promising to address their complaints about not getting a fair share of their inheritance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His brutality often included public beheadings, often of police officers. His exact age is not known but he was believed to be in his late 30s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>Associated Press writers Riaz Khan in Peshawar, Pakistan; Sherin Zada in Swat, Kathy Gannon and Munir Ahmed in Islamabad, Pakistan, and Lolita C. Baldor in Washington, contributed to this report.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A U.S. drone strike in northeastern Kunar province killed Pakistan Taliban chief Mullah Fazlullah, the insurgent leader who ordered the assassination of Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, an Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman said 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