US drone strike kills Pakistan Taliban leader

Pakistan Taliban leader Mullah Fazlullah has been killed in a US drone strike in north-eastern Kunar, the Afghan defence ministry said.

A US drone strike in north-eastern Kunar province has killed Pakistan Taliban chief Mullah Fazlullah, an Afghan defence ministry official said.

Fazlullah and two other insurgents were killed early on Thursday morning, defence ministry spokesman Mohammad Radmanish said.

According to a statement attributed to US Forces-Afghanistan spokesman Lt Col Martin O'Donnell, the US carried out a "counter-terrorism strike" on Thursday in the border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan targeting "a senior leader of a designated terrorist organisation".

The statement did not say whether the strike had killed anyone and did not identify Fazlullah as the target.

Mr Radmanish said the attack took place in Marawara district, near the border.