US Defence Secretary James Mattis WASHINGTON: US Defence Secretary James Mattis has Confirm the role that American forces played in removing Pakistan’s most wanted terrorist, as Washington sends a senior envoy to Islamabad for peace talks. “The forces engaged against the terrorists basically killed Fazlullah, the head of the Pakistan Taliban (TTP),” said Mr. Mattis while talking to Pentagon journalists in Alaska. This is a rare confirmation of a terrorist’s elimination by a senior US official and comes amid renewed efforts for restoring peace in Afghanistan where the United States has been engaged in an apparently unending military campaign since 2001. Usually, US officials do not talk about targeted attacks, particularly when it involves a drone, as it was a US drone that killed Fazlullah. While the US continues to use drones to eliminate terrorists, it prefers not to confirm or deny such attacks. Senior US officials are particularly careful becau...