A commander of the Al-Qaeda linked to major attacks in Pakistan, including the bombing of a luxury hotel and an assault on a cricket team, has been killed in a drone strike in Afghanistan, said Washington.
Qari Yasin, who had close links with Tehrik-e-Taleban Pakistan (Pakistani Taleban), was killed on March 19 in eastern Paktika province, the Pentagon said on Saturday.
“The death of Qari Yasin is evidence that terrorists who defame Islam and deliberately target innocent people will not escape justice,” United States Defence Secretary Jim Mattis said in a statement.
Yasin, who went by several aliases, including Ustad Aslam, was accused of plotting the Sept 20, 2008 bombing on the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad that killed dozens of people, including two US service members.
He was also said to have been behind a 2009 attack in Lahore on a bus carrying the Sri Lankan cricket team that killed six Pakistani police officers and two civilians, and wounded six members of the team.
According to official Pakistani “Most Wanted” lists, he was behind failed attempts to kill then president Pervez Musharraf in 2003 and then prime minister Shaukat Aziz in 2004.