Five Taliban chiefs reported dead after US drone strike

The dead men are believed to be from the Maulvi Nazir faction of Pakistan‘s Taliban, which carries out cross-border attacks from its strongholds in South Waziristan.

The group threatened to escalate attacks on US-led Nato troops in Afghanistan in June in response to intensified drone strikes.

Four of the commanders were identified as Hazrat Omar, Nazir’s younger brother, Khan Mohammad, Miraj Wazir and Ashfaq Wazir. The group did not name the fifth. Local intelligence officials said three Nazir commanders were killed. The reports could not be independently verified.

“They are a very important group because while they are based in Pakistan they are very active in Afghanistan,” said Mansur Khan Mehsud from think-tank Fata Research Centre.

“If you look at drone strikes, they are one of the most heavily targeted groups.”

Earlier this year a lawyer representing the families of drone victims in Pakistan said the escalation in America’s use of the unmanned aircraft would become the “next Guantanamo”.

He said: “These drone strikes are not covered by any instrument of war. There is no such international legal instrument, no US authority.”

But a senior US official responded, telling Channel 4 News they are “the most precise system we’ve ever had in our arsenal”.

However, Pakistani leaders have said the strikes inflame widespread anti-American sentiment in Pakistan and play into the hands of militants. The latest attack comes less than a week after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Islamabad accompanied by high-level US military and intelligence officials.

Nazir’s group of around 1,200 fighters is among the militants not opposed to the Pakistani state. Pakistan struck a deal with the faction in 2007 under which they would not harbour anti-government militants.

In exchange, the group would not be targeted by the military when offensives began against the Pakistani Taliban.