Pakistan Taliban Chief Fazlullah aka 'Mullah Radio', Who Once Shot Malala, 'Killed' in US Drone Strike

Islamabad, June 15: Mullah Fazlullah, also referred to as 'Mullah Radio', who is believed to be the militant who once fired upon education activist Malala Yousafzai, has been reportedly killed in a US drone strike.

Fazlullah was heading the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the biggest insurgent outfit in the northwestern frontier provinces of Pakistan. The claim of his death was made by a senior US military personnel while speaking to Voice of America (VoA) -- a US government-funded media outlet.

Fazlullah, the military personnel said, was killed during an air-raid by the US forces in Kunar province of Afghanistan, which borders with Pakistan's Waziristan region.

"US forces conducted a counterterrorism strike (on) June 13 in Kunar province, close to the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, which targeted a senior leader of a designated terrorist organization," a spokesman for US Forces-Afghanistan, Army Lt. Col. Martin O'Donnell, also told VOA Thursday.

However, experts have expressed doubt over Fazlullah's killing as the dreaded militant had been declared dead on numerous occasions before, but was later found to be alive.

Fazlullah was tagged as 'Mullah Radio' for his fiery and provocative sermons against the West on the pirate radio networks in Swat region. His outfit, the TTP, has been responsible for a string of terror attacks in Pakistan between 2012 to 2015. However, they suffered a major blow after the then Army chief Gen Raheel Sharif executed the Zarb-e-Azb operation leading to the elimination of over 50,000 militants from the frontier provinces and the exodus of over a lakh extremists in neighbouring Afghanistan.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 15, 2018 04:21 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).