Pakistan denies drone strike killed British militant

Security officials reject British media reports alleging death of Pakistani militant of British origin in US

MIRAMSHAH: Security officials on Thursday rejected a report alleging the death of a Pakistani militant of British orgin in a US drone strike last month.

British media reports identified the militant as Abdul Jabbar, it said that he was being groomed to head a new al Qaeda splinter group in Britain which planned to launch terror attacks on Europe.

“I have no knowledge of any such militant. No one with this name existed and no one of British origin died in the recent drone attack,” said a senior security official at Islamabad.

Intelligence officials in Miramshah also dismissed the report as baseless. “This report is just speculation,” an intelligence official said. Another intelligence official clarified that an Egyptian national, Abdul Latif, had been reportedly killed in a drone attack last month. But he said that no one of British origin had been killed.

“We have no report of anyone with the name of Abdul Jabbar,” he said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to talk to the media. AFP

Published in The Express Tribune, October 8^th, 2010.