06 June,2011 07:34 AM IST | | Agencies
Says Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik about reports of senior al-Qaeda operative being killed in US drone attacks
Pakistan's interior minister said yesterday that he was "98 percent sure" senior al-Qaeda operative Ilyas Kashmiri was killed in a US drone strike near the Afghan border.
US officials in Washington were sceptical over reports that Kashmiri, seen as one of the world's most dangerous militants, was dead.
Ilyas Kashmiri, dubbed as the new Osama bin Laden, was one of the most wanted men for
Indian security agencies for his role in a number of terror strikes in the country including the 2008 Mumbai attacks
A US National Security official said he could not confirm that he had been killed and another US official said it was doubtful.
"All ground intelligence shows that he is dead. What I can say is there is a 98 percent chance he is dead," said Interior Minister Rehman Malik.
"Since we do not have the body. We do not have DNA we need to confirm. This is the substantive evidence we are looking for."
That may not be possible since it is very difficult for Pakistani security forces to get to areas like South Waziristan where intelligence officials said Kashmiri was killed in a drone strike on Friday night.
After missile strikes by remotely-operated drone aircraft, militants often seal off the area then bury their comrades.
The elimination of Kashmiri would be another coup for the United States after American special forces killed Osama bin Laden in a garrison town close to Islamabad on May 2.
The killing of bin Laden aroused international suspicions that Pakistani authorities had been complicit in hiding him, and led to domestic criticism of them for failing to detect or stop the US team that killed him.
A senior Pakistani security official said, "It's almost confirmed that he is dead. Different sources confirmed it but we can't say it is 100 percent confirmed because we don't have the body."
He went on to say that Kashmiri was holding a meeting with other militants when the drone missile struck.
US doubts over claims of Kashmiri's demise may be further evidence of deep distrust between Pakistani and US intelligence services public pledges by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and other American officials that relations had improved.
One intelligence official said that Pakistan had tipped off the Americans about the whereabouts of Kashmiri, whom the US Department of State has labelled a "specially designated global terrorist".
Kashmiri, said to be a former Pakistani military officer, has been linked to attacks including the 2008 rampage through the Indian city of Mumbai which killed 166 people.
A Pakistani television station quoted the group Kashmiri headed, Harkat-ul Jihad Islami (HUJI) which is allied to al-Qaeda, as saying he had been killed and that it will avenge his death.
