The Pakistani Taliban on Thursday confirmed their second in command had been killed in a US drone strike in the country's lawless tribal northwest and withdrew their offer of peace talks with the government. Waliur Rehman died when an unmanned US aircraft fired two missiles on a house in North Waziristan district, a Taliban and Al-Qaeda haven on the Afghan border, in the early hours of Wednesday. The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) hailed Rehman as a "martyr" and vowed to avenge him, while blaming Pakistan's government for being responsible for the attack.

The Pakistani Taliban on Thursday confirmed their second in command was killed in a US drone strike in the country's lawless tribal northwest. "Our six men including Waliur Rehman were killed in this attack," Ehsanullah Ehsan, the spokesman for Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan told AFP, officially confirming the death of the key commander for the first time. Rehman, the second-in-command of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), who had a $5 million US government bounty on his head, died in a missile attack in North Waziristan tribal area on Wednesday.

By Saud Mehsud DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistani Taliban militants have chosen a new deputy commander to replace their previous second-in-command who was killed in a U.S. drone strike in the North Waziristan region, sources in the militant group said on Thursday.

By Sarwar Amani and Ismail Sameen KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai's older brother Qayum will run in next year's presidential election, their younger brother said, as the country's most powerful family seeks to maintain a political hold in Afghanistan. President Karzai is constitutionally prohibited from running for a third term when the country votes for a new head of state on April 5.