Taliban chief’s brother killed in Pakistan blast: militant sources

The Afghan Taliban leader’s brother was among four people killed in a blast at a mosque in southwestern Pakistan yesterdays, insurgent sources and a Pakistani official said.

The Taliban have not officially commented, but an unofficial statement circulating among Taliban fighters on WhatsApp and seen by AFP confirmed the claim. The blast comes at a delicate moment as a deal between the insurgents and Washington to end America’s war in Afghanistan is believed to be imminent. Provincial police chief Mohsin Hassan Butt said the explosion -- the latest violence in a string of attacks in restive Balochistan province -- was caused by a remotely detonated bomb in the town of Kuchlak.

“The death toll is four ... and there are 23 others wounded,” senior police official Abdul Razzaq Cheema said. A senior official with the Balochistan provincial government confirmed that Ahmadullah Azkhundzada, brother of the Taliban chief Haibatullah Akhundzada, was among the dead.