Al-Qaida militant leader Kashmiri killed in US missile strike

Al-Qaida militant leader Ilyas Kashmiri has been killed in US missile strike in Pakistan, the militant group has confirmed.

The missile attack killed nine militants close to the Afghan border.

Kashmiri was one of five most-wanted militant leaders in Pakistan.

Described by US officials as al-Qaida’s military operations chief in Pakistan, he had been mentioned as a possible replacement for Osama bin Laden, who was killed on May 2 in an American commando raid.

The 47-year-old Pakistani, said to be blind in one eye and missing a finger, is accused in a string of high profile attacks on Western and Pakistani security force targets inside Pakistan, as well as in India.

Indian officials have alleged he was involved in the 2008 Mumbai siege that killed more than 160 people. He has also been named a defendant in an American court over a planned attack on a Danish newspaper that published cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad in 2005.

His name was on a list of militants that the United States and Pakistan recently agreed to jointly target, officials have said, and the successful strike could help repair damaged ties between the two countries, especially if Islamabad helped provide intelligence leading up to the attack.

The drone-fired missiles struck a house in the village of Gowakha, on the outskirts of Wana, the main town in South Waziristan, late last night.