KABUL: The leader of the Pakistani Taliban, Mullah Fazalullah, was killed on Wednesday in a US drone strike in Afghanistan’s eastern Kunar province, Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman Mohammad Radmanesh said on Friday.
Fazalullah, who had a bounty of $5 million on his head, “was a terrorist leader,” Radmanesh told Arab News. “His death will have a multifaceted impact.”
A spokesman for US forces in Afghanistan, Lt. Col, Martin O’Donnell, told Arab News in an email: “US forces conducted a counterterrorism strike, June 13, in Kunar province, close to the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, which targeted a senior leader of a designated terrorist organization.”
Meanwhile, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Friday said the Taliban is honoring its three-day cease-fire that began Thursday night in response to his truce. He expressed hope for its extension.
Ghani said he had spoken overnight with Saudi King Salman, who pledged his “full support for the truce and peace” in Afghanistan.
“This is the first cease-fire in the contemporary history of Afghanistan, and I want to congratulate the people for that,” Ghani added, saying he welcomes any step that leads to the end of bloodshed in the country.
Before declaring its truce, the Taliban unleashed a series of deadly attacks against government forces in various parts of the country, ignoring Ghani’s cease-fire, which began on Tuesday and will last for three more days. The US drone strike did not violate Ghani’s truce, O’Donnell said.
Afghanistan confirms killing of Pakistani Taliban leader
Afghanistan confirms killing of Pakistani Taliban leader
- US officials claim the drone strike targeting the TTP chief is “not a violation” of the temporary truce offered by President Ghani to the Taliban militants
- Fazlullah’s death is a major loss for Pakistani Taliban in years and apparently the first on the Afghan soil
Related
Britain needs ‘AI stress tests’ for financial services, lawmakers say
- Lawmakers urge AI-specific stress tests for financial firms
LONDON: Britain’s financial watchdogs are not doing enough to stop artificial intelligence from harming consumers or destabilising markets, a cross-party group of lawmakers said on Tuesday, urging regulators to move away from what it called a “wait and see” approach.
In a report on AI in financial services, the Treasury Committee said the Financial Conduct Authority and the Bank of England should start running AI-specific stress tests to help firms prepare for market shocks triggered by automated systems.
The committee also called on the FCA to publish detailed guidance by the end of 2026 on how consumer protection rules apply to AI, and on the extent to which senior managers should be expected to understand the systems they oversee.
“Based on the evidence I’ve seen, I do not feel confident that our financial system is prepared if there was a major AI-related incident and that is worrying,” committee chair Meg Hillier said in a statement.
TECHNOLOGY CARRIES ‘SIGNIFICANT RISKS’
A race among banks to adopt agentic AI, which unlike generative AI can make decisions and take autonomous action, runs new risks for retail customers, the FCA told Reuters late last year.
About three-quarters of UK financial firms now use AI. Companies are deploying the technology across core functions, from processing insurance claims to performing credit assessments.
While the report acknowledged the benefits of AI, it warned the technology also carried “significant risks” including opaque credit decisions, the potential exclusion of vulnerable consumers through algorithmic tailoring, fraud, and the spread of unregulated financial advice through AI chatbots.
Experts contributing to the report also highlighted threats to financial stability, pointing to the reliance on a small group of US tech giants for AI and cloud services. Some also noted that AI-driven trading systems may amplify herding behavior in markets, risking a financial crisis in a worst-case scenario.
An FCA spokesperson said the regulator welcomed the focus on AI and would review the report. The regulator has previously indicated it does not favor AI-specific rules due to the pace of technological change.
The BoE did not respond to a request for comment.
Hillier told Reuters that increasingly sophisticated forms of generative AI were influencing financial decisions. “If something has gone wrong in the system, that could have a very big impact on the consumer,” she said.
Separately, Britain’s finance ministry appointed Starling Bank CIO Harriet Rees and Lloyds Banking Group ‘s Rohit Dhawan as “AI Champions” to help steer AI adoption in financial services.
