Al-Qaeda linked Uzbek militant 'killed in US drone attack'

From AKI

Wana, 2 October (AKI) - An Al-Qaeda linked Uzbek militant leader, Tahir Yuldashev, has been killed in northwest Pakistan, according to government and security officials. Tahir Yuldashev died in a US drone attack in the lawless South Waziristan tribal area near the Afghan border, the officials said.

The top militant leader, who had close ties to late Pakistani Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud was eliminated in an 27 August missile strike in Kanigoram, South Waziristan, according to sources quoted by Pakistan's Geo News on Friday.

Thirty-year-old Yaldashev, known as Qari Farooq in South Waziristan, died of a head injury sustained in the airstrike, according to an Uzbek who claimed to be his bodyguard.