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British militant reportedly killed in US air strike

22/11/2008

A British militant, Rashid Rauf, is reportedly among five people killed in an air strike by US air forces in Pakistani territory.

Mr Rauf was arrested in Pakistan in August 2006 a day before police disrupted a plot to detonate bombs in plastic bottles on board transatlantic flights.

The foiled plot led to disruptions at UK and US airports and resulted in tighter security guidelines on the carrying of bottles and sprays on board flights since then.

Two television stations in Pakistan have claimed that Mr Rauf, who managed to escape from the custody of Pakistani authorities in December 2007 while being taken to an extradition hearing, had been killed in the air strike.

The AFP news agency has also cited a senior security official as saying that Mr Rauf as well as "an Egyptian Al-Qaeda operative" had been killed in the operation on Saturday morning

Statements confirming the death of Mr Rauf by official US, UK or Pakistani authorities are yet to be released.

The US has conducted a number of missile strikes along the ungoverned border areas between Pakistan and Afghanistan in the recent past against militants.

Pakistan has publicly said it considers the strikes a violation of its sovereignty but the US maintains that it has a right to act against militants.

Senior US officials have recently insisted that information on possible strikes was being shared with Pakistani authorities.