Security forces in Pakistan claim to have killed a senior al-Qaeda commander and detained his wife in an overnight raid on a hideout in the southwestern province of Baluchistan, AFP reported on Sunday.
“An important Al-Qaeda commander - namely Umar Lateef, a Pakistani national - was killed in an encounter with local security agencies,” provincial home minister Sarfraz Bugti told AFP.
The minister said Umar Lateef and his family had been living in the province for the 8-10 months since moving from the Afghan border province of Nimruz.
“Lateef was a senior commander of Al-Qaeda for Pakistan's Baluchistan and south Punjab regions,” Bugti said, adding “his brother Bilal succeeded in escaping during the raid, probably to neighboring Afghanistan.
Lateef had reportedly established an al-Qaeda network in Punjab and Baluchistan provinces and was supervising “its terrorist activities and providing travel and logistical facilities to terrorists.”
His wife is being interrogated by security official, AFP reported.
