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In a major setback to Taliban, missiles fired from US drones have killed its top commander and group's deputy chief Qari Hussain Mehsud, mastermind of many suicide attacks across Pakistan, sources claimed on Friday.
The drones hit a militant compound in Jungle Khel area near Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan Agency, killing four militants including Qari Hussain on October 7. There was no word from the Taliban on whether the dreaded commander, best known as a trainer of suicide bombers, had died in the attack. Qari Hussain is the deputy chief of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and a first cousin of the group's chief Hakimullah Mehsud. He is regarded as being highly skilled in training militants for suicide attacks in schools in South Waziristan.
Until recently, Qari Hussain's operations were primarily confined to Pakistan but a video released on May 1 claimed he and the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan were behind the foiled car bombing in New York's Times Square by Pakistani-American national Faisal Shahzad.
As a member of the sectarian Sunni group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Qari Hussain was actively involved in that group's activities. Following his stint with LeJ, Qari Hussain operated for a short period with Ilyas Kashmiri, a notorious militant commander and leader of the Harkat-ul-Jihad Al-Islam who focussed on attacking Indian forces in Jammu and Kashmir before relocating to Waziristan in 2005.