US drone kills nine Pakistani militants in Afghanistan

PESHAWAR: A US drone strike in eastern Afghanistan has killed nine militants linked to the Pakistani Taliban in an area close to the countries’ rugged border, officials said on Tuesday.
The strike came in the Nasyan area of the eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar, close to the border with the Pakistani tribal agency of Khyber. Pakistani security officials said the militants belonged to the Lashkar-e-Islam (LI), Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Abdullah Azzam Brigade militant groups.
A Nato spokesman in Kabul confirmed the strike and said it was carried out on Monday, but gave no details on the number of casualities. “We can confirm there was a US precision strike during an operation in Nasyan district, Nangarhar province, on March 23,” the spokesman said.
The strike is the latest evidence of increasing cooperation and US-led forces in combating TTP militants who have fled across the border from a Pakistani military operation.After years of fractious ties and mistrust, Kabul and Islamabad are improving relations under new Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and both countries have agreed to take action against militants using their territory to launch attacks.Last Thursday, the Pakistani Taliban said a US drone strike in eastern Afghanistan killed a senior commander who was a close associate of two of the group’s former chiefs.