The Pentagon says a U.S. airstrike conducted in southern Afghanistan Saturday killed a terrorist who was responsible for several of the deadliest attacks in Pakistan in recent years.
Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said Umar Khalifa, a known terrorist leader with the Tariq Gidar Group, was killed along with four other enemy combatants in Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan.
The U.S. says Khalifa orchestrated terrorist operations in Pakistan including the January 2016 attack on Bacha Khan University, the September 2015 Badaber Air Force Base attack, and the December 2014 Peshawar school attack that resulted in the deaths of more than 130 children.
A Pentagon statement indicates that the U.S. did not know Khalifa was at the targeted location at the time the strike was carried out, since U.S. commanders have the authority to launch offensive strikes against al-Qaeda and Islamic State fighters.
“While this strike was taken pursuant to U.S. rules of engagement and counter-terrorism interests, the specific relevance it has to Pakistan and Afghanistan’s security underscores the common security interests shared by the United States, Afghanistan, and Pakistan on matters of terrorism,” Cook said in the statement.
