An al-Qaida leader believed to be responsible for the 2008 Marriott hotel bombing in Islamabad and the deadly attack on a bus carrying Sri Lanka’s cricket team in 2009 has been killed by a US air strike, the Pentagon claims.
The drone attack on Qari Yasin, “a well-known terrorist leader” with ties to the Pakistan Taliban, took place on 19 March in Paktika province, the Pentagon said in a statement.
“The death of Qari Yasin is evidence that terrorists who defame Islam and deliberately target innocent people will not escape justice,” US defense secretary Jim Mattis said in the statement.
It said that Yasin was responsible for “multiple terror attacks”, including the 2008 suicide truck bombing on the Marriott hotel in Islamabad, Pakistan which killed dozens of people including two American service members.
On Sunday, Pakistani security sources and Islamist militants said that a US drone air strike in Afghanistan had killed Yasin, also known as Ustad Aslam.
Pakistan’s counter-terrorism department had offered a bounty of 2 million rupees ($19,000) for Yasin, saying he was involved in the 2009 attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team bus in the northeastern city of Lahore, allegedly organised by militant group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi.
The attack on the bus led to Pakistan’s exclusion from the role of hosting major international tours. At least 10 gunmen fired on the bus with rifles, grenades and rockets, wounding six players and killing eight Pakistanis.
Also among those injured was Paul Farbrace, the current England assistant coach who was then Sri Lanka’s assistant coach.
Since then, Pakistan has been forced to play most of its “home” games in the United Arab Emirates.