Taliban leader killed drone: After Pakistani intelligence officials said that a U.S. drone killed the No. 2 commander of the Pakistani Taliban on May 29, the White House declined to confirm the account.
Waliur Rehman was killed after missiles fired by a U.S. drone slammed into a house he was in in the two of Miran Shah, according to the officials.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said that is declining to comment on the official’s account. He did say that “it’s worth noting that his demise would deprive” the Pakistani Taliban of “its second-in-command and chief military strategist,” according to USA Today.
A spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban also denied the reports.
“This appears to me to be false news. I don’t have any such information,” said Ahsanullah Ahsan.
Rehman has been on the U.S. radar for years. In 2010, Washington offered $5 million for information leading to Rehman under their “Rewards for Justice” program. He is also said to have participated in cross-border attacks in Afghanistan against U.S. and NATO personnel, and has been linked to the attack on Camp Chapman in 2009, which killed seven Americans working for the CIA.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
