First drone strike under Trump admin kills five in Khost

KHOST: At least five Afghan Taliban militants, including a commander, were killed in a US drone strike in Khost area on the Pak-Afghan border region on Thursday.

The nephew and son-in-law of the leader of a breakaway Taliban faction, Mulla Muhammad Rasool, is among those killed in the first drone strike in the region under the Trump administration.

According to a local police spokesperson, Mulla Akhtar Rasool and four others were moving towards their hideout in a car when they were targeted by the drone. The car was completely destroyed in the attack. The claims, however, could not be independently verified.

In March last year, Pakistani authorities ‘detained’ Mulla Rasool, two Taliban leaders claimed. Mulla Rasool was chosen in early November 2015 by several Taliban cadres opposed to Mulla Akhtar Mansour’s ascendency to head the splinter group.