DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan – Pakistani Taliban militants chose a religious scholar as their new chief in place of Mullah Fazlullah, the insurgent leader who ordered the assassination of Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai and was killed earlier this month in a U.S. drone strike. Mohammad Khurasani, a spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban, said Saturday that the executive council of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan appointed Mufti Noor Wali Mahsud as its new chief and Mufti Mazhim, aka Mufti Hafzullah, as his deputy. Khurasani conceded for the first time that Mullah Fazlullah was killed in the drone attack in Afghanistan's Kunar province. He did not say when and where the TTP executive council met to choose the new leader. A ruthless leader, Fazlullah ordered the beheading of dozens of opponents when his band of insurgents controlled Pakistan's picturesque Swat Valley from 2007 until a massive military operation routed them out in 2009. Fazlullah rose to prominence through his radio broadcasts in Swat demanding the imposition of Islamic law, earning him the nickname "Mullah Radio."

ISLAMABAD – Pakistani caretaker Prime Minister Nasir-ul-Mulk has described the killing of Pakistani Taliban chief Mullah Fazlullah in a U.S. drone strike in Afghanistan as a "significant development in the fight against terrorism." Mulk made the comment in a telephone conversation with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and thanked him for sharing information about Fazlullah's killing. The call was initiated by Ghani. A government statement says an "action had finally been taken against an enemy of the people and state of Pakistan." Mulk told Ghani the news about Fazlullah's death would be received throughout Pakistan with relief as Pakistanis had borne the brunt of terrorist attacks by the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, which Fazlullah headed.

KABUL – President Ashraf Ghani confirmed Friday that Pakistani Taliban chief Maulana Fazlullah has been killed in a U.S. drone strike. Fazlullah is believed to have ordered the failed 2012 assassination of Malala Yousafzai, who became a global symbol of the fight for girls' rights to schooling, and who later won the Nobel Peace Prize. U.S. forces targeted Fazlullah in a counterterrorism strike Thursday in eastern Kunar province, close to the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, U.S. officials said, without confirming his death. "I spoke with Prime Minister of #Pakistan Nasir ul Mulk and Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa and confirmed the death of Mullah Fazlullah," Ghani tweeted, adding: "His death is the result of tireless human intel led by #Afghan security agencies." Ghani added the Pakistani leaders had assured him the strike was "a great step toward building trust between the two nations," while urging them to "bring (the) Afghan Taliban residing in Pakistan to the negotiation table."

Mullah Fazlullah, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) leader, accused of shooting activist Malala Yousafzai was killed by a United States drone strike June 13 close to the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, a U.S. military official confirmed to Voice of America. "U.S. forces conducted a counterterrorism strike June 13 in Kunar province, close to the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, which targeted a senior leader of a designated terrorist organization," army Lt. Col. Martin O'Donnell, a spokesman for U.S. forces in Afghanistan said. He was reportedly traveling in a vehicle with four other commanders when the strike took place, Pakistani daily the Express Tribune reported. "A US drone strike in Afghanistan's northeastern Kunar province has killed the leader of the TTP," Mohammad Radmanish, Afghanistan's Ministry of Defense spokesperson, told CNN. "US Forces-Afghanistan and NATO-led Resolute Support forces continue to adhere to the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan's unilateral ceasefire with the Afghan Taliban, announced by ... Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, which began on the 27th day of Ramadan," a statement from U.S. Forces-Afghanistan said claiming the strike did not put the ceasefire order by President Ashraf Ghani into risk, CNN reported. "As previously stated, the ceasefire does not include US counterterrorism efforts against IS-K, al Qaeda, and other regional and international terrorist groups, or the inherent right of US and international forces to defend ourselves if attacked," the statement added.

Nov. 7, 2013: Pakistani Taliban leader Mullah Fazlullah is seen on television at a coffee shop in Islamabad. The Pakistani Taliban leader known for beheading police officers and even ordering the assassination of Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai has been killed by a U.S. drone strike, Afghanistan's Defense Ministry says. Mohammad Radmanish told the Associated Press on Friday that Mullah Fazlullah, the ruthless insurgent leader, died along with two other terrorists a day earlier in the Marawara district along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. A statement attributed to U.S. Forces-Afghanistan spokesman Lt. Col Martin O'Donnell said an American "counterterrorism strike" was carried out in the region targeting "a senior leader of a designated terrorist organization," but did not say whether it had killed anyone. Fazlullah previously ordered the bombing and beheadings of dozens of opponents when his band of insurgents controlled Pakistan's picturesque Swat Valley from 2007 until a massive military operation routed them in 2009.

The leader of Pakistan's Taliban armed group has been killed in neighbouring Afghanistan's Kunar province, the Afghan defence ministry said on Friday. "I confirm that Mullah Fazlullah, leader of the Pakistani Taliban, has been killed in an joint air operation [with the US] in the border area of Marawera district of Kunar province," Mohammad Radmanish, spokesman for Afghan defence ministry, told Reuters news agency, adding the air attack was carried out at about 9am local time on Thursday. In a separate statement to the Associated Press news agency, Radmanish said that two other armed fighters were killed alongside Fazlullah. Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (known by the acronym TTP) acknowledged that its leader had been killed, according to Turkey's Anadolu Agency. TTP accused the Afghan intelligence service NDS, which has long been suspected by Pakistan of harbouring Fazlullah, of providing information for the drone attack.

Pakistan Taliban leader Mullah Fazlullah was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Afghanistan, the Afghan Defense Ministry announced Friday. The U.S. military said Thursday it had carried out an airstrike targeting a senior militant in northeastern Kunar, according to Reuters. A U.S. official told the news agency the target was believed to be Fazlullah. Four other senior Taliban militants were also killed in the strike, The New York Times reported. Fazlullah is considered one of the most-wanted Pakistan militants and is believed to be behind the attacks on Pakistani security officials and civilians.

KABUL, Afghanistan – An Afghan Defense Ministry official says a U.S. drone strike in northeastern Kunar province has killed Pakistan Taliban chief Mullah Fazlullah. Defense Ministry spokesman Mohammad Radmanish tells The Associated Press in a telephone interview Friday that Fazlullah and two other insurgents were killed early Thursday morning. According to a statement attributed to U.S. Forces-Afghanistan spokesman, Lt. Col Martin O'Donnell, the U.S. carried out a "counterterrorism strike" Thursday near in the border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan targeting "a senior leader of a designated terrorist organization." The statement did not say whether the strike had killed anyone and did not identify Fazlullah as the target. Radmanish said the attack took place in Marawara district, near the border.