Peshawar, Oct. 2 : Pakistani security officials have claimed that Uzbek
Al Qaeda leader Tahir Yuldashev was killed by a US missile in August in
Pakistan's South Waziristan region.

Yuldashev, leader of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, had been operating from South Waziristan for some years.

"The
man is dead. He was killed in a drone attack in South Waziristan on
August 27," The Nation quoted a Pakistani intelligence agency official,
as saying.

Another Pakistani security official said Yuldashev''s colleagues had tried to keep his death a secret.

A
close ally of the Taliban and al Qaeda, Yuldashev was leading an
underground operation against the communist government of Uzbekistan
before and after the break-up of the Soviet Union.

He later fled to for the safety of Taliban-ruled Afghanistan and fought on the Taliban side in Afghanistan''s civil war.

He fled to Waziristan after US-led forced toppled the Taliban in late 2001.

In March 2004, Pakistani forces surrounded his base, but he escaped while his fighters mounted a fierce defence. (ANI)