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TTP commander Sajna killed in drone strike
KARACHI: Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) commander Khan Saeed, also known as Sajna, was reported killed in a United States (US) drone strike in Afghanistan, according to a New York Times report.At least 12 other militants were killed and 20 had been wounded in the drone strike, the NYT quoted a Pakistani intelligence official as saying. The strike occurred in the Damma region in Khost Province, near Shahadianu Patala, a Pakistani town in North Waziristan, the intelligence officials said. The report said the death of Sajna was confirmed by another Pakistani intelligence official on the condition of anonymity. Local elders claimed the drone strikes took place during a meeting called to resolve differences between various factions of the Taliban. The claims, however, have not yet been independently verified. Tracking of drone strikes in Afghanistan is patchy since many of them take place in remote regions. There has also been no comment on the matter as yet from American officials, who do not typically comment publicly on drone strikes. The death has not yet been denied so far by the Mehsud faction of the TTP which Sajna heads. Sajna had publicly rejected the TTP’s central leader Mullah Fazlullah in 2014, saying his own faction would continue fighting by itself, the NYT reported. A Peshawar-based military official told the NYT that Sajna was a leading figure of the TTP and that both Pakistani and American security forces were after him for a long time. If the commander’s death is confirmed, “it would certainly be a big blow to the Taliban, both in Pakistan and Afghanistan,” said a Pakistani Taliban commander who gave an interview by phone on the condition that his name not be used. Posted by: badanov 2015-11-27 |
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