(Previous Incident Code: Ob363 )

A US drone strike killed Khawrey Mehsud, a senior commander in the Pakistan Taliban (TTP), a TTP spokesman has confirmed.

Mehsud died alongside Umar and Talwar, according to the TTP spokesman. The attack hit in the Shabak area of Kurram agency, adjacent to North Waziristan. There was some confusion where the strike hit with one source said it hit “on the Afghan side of the border, opposite to Pakistan’s Shabak area in Kurram Agency”.

Mehsud was described as “very close to martyred [TTP] chief Baitullah Mehsud and was his personal bodyguard.” Baitullah Mehsud was killed in a CIA drone strike in 2009, two years after founding the TTP. Khawrey was from Sararogha in South Waziristan and reportedly had been a Taliban member since he was a child. He reportedly had fought in Afghanistan and in Pakistan.