Kashmiri

Islamabad, June 5 (Reuters): Pakistan’s interior minister Rehman Malik said today that he was “98 per cent sure” senior al Qaida operative Ilyas Kashmiri was killed in a US drone strike near the Afghan border.

US officials in Washington were, however, sceptical over reports that Kashmiri, seen as one of the world’s most dangerous militants, was dead.

A US National Security official said he could not confirm that he had been killed and another US official said it was doubtful.

“All ground intelligence shows that he is dead. What I can say is there is a 98 per cent chance he is dead,” Malik told Reuters.

“Since we do not have the body. We do not have DNA we need to confirm. This is the substantive evidence we are looking for.”

The elimination of Kashmiri would be another coup for the US after American special forces killed Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad close to the Pakistan capital on May 2.

US doubts over claims of Kashmiri’s death may be further evidence of the deep distrust between Pakistani and US intelligence services even after public pledges by secretary of state Hillary Clinton and other American officials that relations had improved.

Twin blasts kill 24

At least 24 people were killed in separate bomb attacks in northwest Pakistan today, police said.

A bomb exploded at a bakery in the cantonment area of Nowshera, killing 18. Hours earlier, another bomb blast at a bus stop near Peshawar, killed six people, they added.