Another top Taliban commander killed in drone attack

In yet another blow to the Taliban, a top militant commander, responsible for deadly attack on US consulate in Pakistan four years ago, was killed in a massive American drone attack in the tribal areas.
    
Qari Mohammad Zafar, a Lashkar-e-Jangvi turned Taliban militant with al-Qaeda links was among 13 militants killed in the Dargah Mandi area of restive North Waziristan on Wednesday, CNN reported.
    
Zafar, CNN said, was wanted by US and Pakistan for questioning in connection with the March 2, 2006 bombing near the US consulate in Karachi, which killed an American diplomat David Foy and three Pakistanis.
    
US had put a reward of $5 million on his head. Quoting Pakistani intelligence officials, CNN said that Zafar was also a key planner of the Marriott hotel bombing in Islamabad that killed 54 people in September 2008.
    
US officials have said that nearly 15 senior and mid-level Taliban commanders have been captured in recent weeks, most of them from the restive tribal areas of the NWFP.
    
The top catch has been the Taliban number two Mulla Abdul Ghani Barader along with three shadow governors of Baghlan, Kunduz and Nangahar provinces.
    
CNN said that American officials were still sceptical on Pakistan's crackdown on Taliban. They were not sure whether it signalled that the country's powerful army and intelligence were adopting a harder line against militants or their arrests could be linked to Islamabad's attempts to influence possible conciliation between the Taliban and Afghan leadership.