A US drone-fired missile was targeting top al Qaida militant leader Ilyas Kashmiri, an official said
12 April 2012
A Pakistani intelligence official and a militant group say that top al Qaida militant Ilyas Kashmiri has been killed in an American drone strike.
A fax from Kashmiri's Harakat-ul-Jihad al-Islami militant group said that Kashmiri was "martyred" in the strike at 11:15 p.m. Friday in South Waziristan.
It vowed revenge against America.
The Pakistani official also said that Kashmiri was among nine militants killed in the strike. He spoke on condition of anonymity in line with his agency's policy.
Kashmiri is one of five most-wanted militant leaders in Pakistan and his apparent death is another blow to al-Qaida just over a month after Osama bin Laden was killed.
