ISLAMABAD: An Al-Qaida operations chief in Pakistan and an Uzbek militant commander were believed killed in US missile strikes in the northwest of the country earlier this month, Pakistani officials said yesterday.

If confirmed, the deaths of Ilyas Kashmiri and Nazimuddin, alias Yahyo, indicate America's policy of using unmanned drones to attack targets on Pakistan's side of the Afghan border is working.

The tactic has been publicly criticized by the Pakistani government, but many believe officials here secretly endorse it.