US offers $5M reward for Pakistan Taliban leader

FILE: U.S. Flag (Pixabay Photo)

WASHINGTON — The State Department has offered a $5 million reward for information on Pakistani Taliban leader Mullah Fazlullah in the latest U.S. effort to pressure militants in the South Asian nation.

The announcement came a day after Fazlullah’s son was reported killed in a U.S. drone strike in Afghanistan.

Fazlullah is the leader of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan said to be responsible for numerous terrorist acts against Pakistani and U.S. interests including a failed attempt to detonate an explosive device in New York’s Times Square in 2010.

Fazlullah is also blamed for the 2012 shooting of Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai (mah-LAH’-lah YOO’-suhf-zeye), now a Nobel peace laureate.

Additionally, the department offered Thursday $3 million each for information on two other Pakistani militant leaders, Abdul Wali and Mangal Bagh.