Umar Khalid Khorasani, 9 associates confirmed killed by US drone strike

The chief of Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (JuA), an offshoot of the Pakistani Taliban, has been killed in a US drone strike, a spokesman for the group confirmed to AFP on Thursday.

“Chief of our Jamaat-ul-Ahrar Umar Khalid Khorasani, who sustained serious injuries in a recent US drone strike in Afghanistan's Paktia province, succumbed to his injuries Wednesday evening,” JuA spokesman Asad Mansoor told AFP by telephone from an undisclosed location.

“At least nine close associates of Khorasani were also killed in the strike,” he added.

Mansoor said a high-level meeting of JuA's consultative council will be convened soon to appoint the outfit's new chief.

However, an important Taliban commander said on condition of anonymity that one of JuA's senior commanders, Asad Afridi, has already been appointed new JuA chief.