The Taliban chief who ordered the assassination of Malala Yousafzai has been killed in a drone strike, it was announced on Friday.

A U.S. drone strike in northeastern Kunar province killed Pakistan Taliban chief Mullah Fazlullah, an Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman said. Mohammad Radmanish said Fazlullah and two other insurgents were killed early on Thursday morning, just hours before Afghanistan’s Taliban began a three-day cease fire to mark the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr. According to a statement attributed to U.S.

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Forces-Afghanistan spokesman Lt. Col Martin O’Donnell, the U.S. carried out a ‘counter-terrorism strike’ on Thursday in the border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan targeting ‘a senior leader of a designated terrorist organisation.’

Pakistan’s military refused to comment on the report of Fazlullah’s death saying any information would have to come from Washington.

But Fazlullah’s death would be welcome news in Pakistan, where the government has repeatedly complained that Fazlullah and his Tehrik-e-Taliban had found safe havens across the border in Afghanistan.

Malala’s open call for girls’ education and criticism of the Taliban infuriated Fazlullah, who ordered her assasination when she was only 14.

She has often said that Fazlullah’s attempts to silence her backfired and instead he amplified her voice around the world.

Malala, now 20, has since gone on to gain a place at Oxford University where she is studying Philosophy, Politics and, Economics.

(Metro)