US drone kills Haqqani commander on Pak-Afghan border

PARACHINAR: A suspected US drone attack along the Pak-Afghan border killed a militant commander from the Taliban-allied Haqqani Network, a Pakistani official and two members of the Haqqani group said.

The Pakistani official said it was not immediately clear whether the missile struck on the Afghan or Pakistani side of the border. The members of the network and an eyewitness reached by Reuters said the incident took place inside Pakistan. There have been multiple suspected US drone strikes in the mountainous border region separating the Kurram Agency from Afghanistan since US President Donald Trump took office in January.

Tuesday’s suspected drone attack targeted the vehicle of a militant commander named Jamiuddin, said the Pakistani official, who is based in the area, speaking on condition of anonymity, added that it also killed an associate of the commander.

A senior member of the Haqqani network told Reuters: "Maulvi Jamiuddin was our trusted man. He was part of our organisation and used to facilitate our fighters during their movement inside Afghanistan.”

He added that Jamiuddin was travelling in his car in Pakistan’s Kurram region and that none of his associates were killed in the attack. “Jamiuddin stopped the car for conversation on his cellular phone when the drone fired two missiles and killed him on the spot," another Haqqani member said. Rehmanullah, a resident of the area who uses only one name, said he saw the strike near the Mata Sanghar area of Kurram Agency, across from the Afghan province of Paktia.