Interior ministry spokesman says DNA test confirms Wali Muhammad was Mulla Mansour; Nisar and Shahbaz’s meeting with Gen Raheel was ‘neither secret nor extraordinary’
ISLAMABAD: An interior ministry spokesman said on Sunday the driver of the vehicle attacked by a US drone had been identified as Muhammad Azam, a father of four, whose family had registered a murder case against unknown US officials under the Anti-Terrorism Act. They said Azam was innocent and the sole breadwinner of the family.
The identity of the US officials involved in the drone strike is unknown, and it was not known if the charges will relate to those who ordered the attack or the US servicemen who carried it out.
Police in the remote district of Naushki, where the drone attack took place, confirmed on Sunday that Azam’s relatives had got an FIR registered against unnamed US officials.“My brother, a father of four children, was innocent and the sole breadearner for his extremely impoverished family,” a brother of the deceased driver said in his complaint registered with the Noshki Police Station.
He said Azam had no links to any terror groups and used to ferry passengers in his taxi between Taftan, the Pakistani town bordering Iran, and Quetta, the capital of Balochistan.“I seek justice and legal action against the American authorities responsible for the attack. I do not know their names but the media has quoted them as claiming to have used explosive material to kill my brother,” the complainant added.
A Quetta-based attorney, Tahir Hussain, told VOA that Azam’s family is likely to seek a trial in absentia if the US officials refuse to respond and may attempt to push for monetary compensation.
The Interior Ministry on Sunday confirmed that the man killed in the May 21 drone hit in Balochistan was in fact the Taliban chief Mulla Akhtar Mansour after his DNA samples matched with a close relative.
US President Obama, Secretary of Defence John Kerry and Afghan Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah had confirmed Mansour’s death but the Government of Pakistan had delayed confirmation before the DNA test.
Mansour entered Pakistan from Iran using the false name of Wali Muhammad on May 21 when his car was hit by a drone.The Interior Ministry spokesman said a sample match taken from a close relative of the militant leader who came from Afghanistan to receive his body confirmed that the person killed in the drone hit was Mulla Mansour Akhtar.
The drone had targeted a moving vehicle in the Naushki area of Balochistan near the Afghan border, killing Mansour and his driver.After the death of Mulla Akhtar Mansour, the Taliban appointed Sheikh Habatullah Akhunzada as their new chief.
Meanwhile, the spokesman said the meeting between Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar and Punjab Chief MinisterShahbaz Sharif with the Army Chief General Raheel Sharif was neither secret nor extraordinary.
He said during the meeting at the Army House at 11.00am on Saturday both sides discussed the recent drone attack in Balochistan, implementation of the National Action Plan (NAP) and other national security matters.The spokesman said unnecessary speculations should be avoided regarding the meeting.
