According to reports from Pakistani officials, a Pakistani Taliban leader was taken down by a United States drone strike. Lt. Col. Martin O'Donnell, the spokes for the U.S. military in Afghanistan, confirmed the strike. They didn't confirm exactly who was killed, but did specify it as a "senior leader of a designated terrorist organization." There are four other senior Taliban commanders killed as well, according to the Pakistani officials.
Near the province of Kunar is where Mullah Fazlullah was killed. According to The New York Times: “Mr. Fazlullah has been the most-wanted militant in Pakistan for years. His organization has carried out hundreds of attacks against both Pakistani security forces and civilians, including an assault on a school in Peshawar in 2014 that killed 145 people or more, including at least 132 children.”
Back in January of 2015, the U.S. State Department declared that Fazlullah was a "Specially Designated Global Terrorist.”
Maulana Fazlullah was elected commander of Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in November 2013, following the death of former TTP leader Hakimullah Mehsud. The Department of State designated TTP as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist on September 1, 2010. TTP was also listed at the United Nations 1267/1989 Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee on July 29, 2011.
Under the leadership of Fazlullah, TTP claimed responsibility for the December 16, 2014 attack on a school in Peshawar, Pakistan that resulted in the deaths of at least 148 individuals, mostly students. Prior to becoming the leader of TTP, Fazlullah claimed he was behind the killing of Pakistani Army Major General Sanaullah Niazi in September 2013, as well as ordering the shooting of schoolgirl and activist Malala Yousafzai in 2012. Fazullah was responsible for the beheading of 17 Pakistani soldiers after an attack in June 2012 and also ordered the targeted killings of elders who led peace committees against the Taliban.
In March of 2018 it was reported by the State Department that there is a $5 million reward for information on Maulana Fazlullah.
It's important to keep in mind that Fazlullah's death has been incorrectly reported before.
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