The Afghan Taliban today described the killing of Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud as "a big loss" and urged Islamabad to prevent any further US drone strikes.
Mehsud, who was under a USD 5 million US government bounty, was killed when a drone targeted his car in the North Waziristan tribal district of Pakistan, near the Afghan border.
"The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan strongly condemns this terror act by America and describes the martyrdom of Mullah Hakimullah Mehsud as a big loss," the Taliban said in a statement, using the group's formal name.
"America can not create a vacuum or achieve their evil goals by martyring mujahideen.
"The Islamic Emirate calls on the Pakistani people and government to make more effort than at any other time to prevent such brutal attacks by the American invaders."
The Pakistan Taliban, known as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), is an umbrella group founded in December 2007 following a deadly military raid on the radical Red Mosque in Islamabad.
The TTP officially swears allegiance to Mullah Omar, the leader of the Afghan Taliban, who ruled Kabul from 1996-2001, but the two groups are separate, with independent command structures.
