The latest American drone strike in North Waziristan may have taken out senior Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) commander Khan Sayed Mehsud, more commonly known as Sajna. The strike occurred at a meeting of Taliban commanders gathered to resolve differences and discuss future operations against the Pakistani state. If reports of his death are confirmed, this would be a severe blow to the TTP leadership as he was a forceful and leading militant in the increasingly fractured terrorist outfit.Sajna was born in Zangara in South Waziristan, a member of the ShabiKhel tribe. TTP’s founder, BaitullahMehsud, came from the same tribe. Sajna became a key figure in the TTP, known for his fierce fighting across the tribal belt, and grew close to HakeemullahMehsud. After the latter’s death in a US drone strike, MaulanaFazlullah was appointed the new chief of the TTP in November 2013, charged with continuing the bloody war aimed at the overthrow of the Pakistani state. Only six months later, the TTP’s infighting in the wake of Hakeemullah Mehsud’s death would causeSajnato publicly split with Fazlullah, declaring,“The present leadership has lost its path.” Twelve other militants have also reportedly been killed in the strike, but none could have been as high value a target as Sajna. Pakistani security forces were after him for a long time.There is as yet no official outcry on this latest US drone strike (close to North Waziristan territory), no sharp rebuke on the violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty. There are many instances of this in recent years: in 2013, the Foreign Office swiftly summoned US Charge d’Affaires Richard Hoagland to lodge an official complaint against a drone strike in the Shawal area of North Waziristan aimed at a Taliban commander; June 2014 saw the first drone strike of that particular year, and the Foreign Office immediately released a statement saying the strikes “are a violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.” In 2015 it appears that we have acquired a national ambivalence to drone strikes, seeing their benefits and developing our own drones for aerial surveillance and attacks. The state is possibly much more collaborative because of the ongoing war against the TTP and the host of other extremist and terrorist outfits dotted across the mainland. We have our hands full, and it seems we welcome the help to take out our shared enemies. *