U.S. Hands Over Senior Militant To Pakistan

The U.S. military in Afghanistan says it has handed over three Pakistani detainees to Islamabad.

The military said in a statement December 7 that the transfer happened December 6.

Unnamed Pakistani security officials said one of the three was a senior Pakistani Taliban commander, Latif Mehsud, a close aide to the former chief of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, Hakimullah Mehsud, who was killed last year.

U.S. forces captured Latif Mehsud in October 2013.

The transfer coincided with a visit by outgoing U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to Afghanistan.

In a separate development, a U.S. drone strike killed at least four suspected militants in Pakistan near the Afghan border.

Pakistani military officials said a senior member of Al-Qaeda, Omar Faroq, was among the dead.

The attack came one day after Pakistani forces killed Al-Qaeda leader Adnan al-Shukrijumah.

Based on reporting by Reuters, AFP, and AP