Pakistan might have aided in killing of Ilyas Kashmiri

Pakistan apparently aided the killing of the dreaded al-Qaeda linked terrorist Ilyas Kashmiri, who had come to figure as the most wanted militant for the security establishment.

"I think certainly, ISI has played a role in the particular US drone attack (that killed Kashmiri and 9 others in South Waziristan)" a former senior Pakistani army officer told al-Jazeera news network.

Hinting that Pakistani establishment had interfered with Kashmiri, former Brigadier Shaukat Qadir told the channel that, "US had its wish list of people they wanted. I don't know what their priority was. From Pakistan's perspective, Ilyas Kashmiri would have been on the top of the wish list."

Kashmiri was one of the top militant who figured on the list which the US gave to Pakistan of senior al-Qaeda members, it wanted killed or captured, just a week ago.

Others on the list are al-Qaeda No 2 Ayman al-Zawahri, al-Qaeda operations chief Atiya Abdel Rahman, as well as Taliban leader Mullah Omar, all of whom US intelligence officials believe are hiding in Pakistan. Sirajuddin Haqqani also figures on the list.

Kashmiri, once considered to be a poster boy of Pakistan army and intelligence fell foul of the powerful intelligence establishment after carrying out attempts on the life of former president Pervez Musharraf and plotting the recent Mehran air base attack.