The first US drone strike in weeks killed the No. 2 commander of the Pakistani Taliban yesterday, dealing a major blow to the al Qaeda-linked terror group.
Waliur Rehman had been a high-priority US target — with a $5 million bounty on his head — after waging cross-border attacks on Americans in Afghanistan.
Rehman was regarded as a virtual ruler of the lawless North Waziristan region and the next leader of the ruthless Taliban-related group known as TTP.
The White House said he was wanted in the 2009 killing of seven CIA employees by an al Qaeda member in a suicide bombing at a US base in Afghanistan. The attack was depicted in the movie “Zero Dark Thirty.”
Pakistani intelligence sources said Rehman and as many as six Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan fighters died when missiles from a US drone blew up their mud hideout in the town of Chasma early yesterday.
The border area is considered a terrorist stronghold and a launching pad for attacks on US and NATO forces in Afghanistan.
Pakistan intelligence officials said they had intercepted communications between terrorists that confirmed Rehman, in his early 40s, was among the victims.
It was the first US drone strike since April 17, and came six days after President Obama placed new restrictions on drones.
Obama spokesman Jay Carney declined to confirm Rehman’s death, but said that, if true, it would deprive the TTP of its chief military strategist involved in “horrific attacks” on Americans and Pakistani civilians and soldiers.
The TTP has been waging a six-year war against Pakistan. The terror group’s previous leader, Baitullah Mehsud, was killed by a US drone in 2009.