by Damozel | According to The New York Times, a pilotless aircraft dropped five missiles on a compound belonging to one of Pakistan's most prominent Taliban leaders. The missile attack was in North Waziristan.
The strike hit the compound run by Sirajuddin Haqqani, the son of Jalaluddin Haqqani, whom the United States has accused of organizing some of the most serious recent attacks in Afghanistan against American and NATO forces and of masterminding a failed assassination attempt against the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai.
It appeared that neither man was present at the compound during the attack. Among those killed were one of Jalaluddin Haqqani’s two wives, his sister, sister-in-law and eight of his grandchildren, Pakistani intelligence officials said. (NYT)
In addition, "Fifteen to 20 wounded people, most of them women and children, were taken to hospital in Miranshah, doctors said." (Reuters)
Apparently the attack did NOT succeed in killing either of the Haqqanis. (Reuters) Here's another report:
Nine "foreigners" described as Arab al Qaeda members and six Taliban fighters were among those killed, AFP reported. An Arab by the name of Hamza was reportedly among those killed. But Siraj and Jalaluddin were not present at the time of the attack, according to Badruddin Haqqani, Jalaluddin's son. "[Jalaluddin] Haqqani and Sirajuddin were in Afghanistan at the time of the attack," Badruddin told Reuters. "They are alive." (The Long War Journal)
One of Haqqanis' sons "told Reuters his father and Sirajuddin were in Afghanistan when the attack took place." (Reuters)
According to the military, the Haqqanis protect forces from al-Qaeda, "provide logistics and intelligence for Qaeda operatives, and act as a bridge between the Afghan and Pakistani Taliban, who share the common mission of driving American and NATO troops from Afghanistan."(NYT) The article speculates that this attack on the family was meant to have a "psychological" effect.
One of the Bush administration’s biggest complaints about the Pakistani government has been its reluctance to sever its ties with Taliban militants like the Haqqanis. Pakistan has continued to regard the Taliban as a valuable force for protecting Pakistan’s interests in Afghanistan in the event of an American withdrawal.(NYT)
Of course, Jalaluddin Haqqani turns out to be no stranger to the military even before all this. He is a veteran of the Soviet-backed Afghan war. (Reuters)
In the 1980s, Jalaluddin Haqqani was cultivated as a “unilateral” asset of the C.I.A. and received tens of thousands of dollars in cash for his work in fighting the Soviet Army in Afghanistan, according to an account in “The Bin Ladens,” a recent book by Steve Coll. At that time, Mr. Haqqani helped and protected Osama bin Laden, who was building his own militia to fight the Soviet forces, Mr. Coll wrote. (NYT)
According to Reuters, Haqqani has close ties to Pakistani Intelligence (ISI). As a result, their network has managed to thrive despite a number of attacks for which they have claimed credit, according to The Long Wars Journal.
Apparently we can expect more strikes against Taliban operatives in Pakistan.(NYT)
Pakistan's new president, Asif Ali Zardari, who is due to be sworn in on Tuesday, has vowed to defeat the Taliban and support the West's mission in Afghanistan.
But the U.S.-led campaigns against al Qaeda and the Taliban are hugely unpopular among Pakistanis and Zardari's coalition, which forced former army chief President Pervez Musharraf to resign last month, has to pay more heed to public opinion than Musharraf did.
U.S.-led forces have stepped up cross-border attacks against al Qaeda and Taliban targets in Pakistani tribal areas.
The Long Wars Journal provides background on the US interest in this family
These cross-border raids are not expected to let up, several senior US military and intelligence officials told The Long War Journal....
The madrassa hit just outside Miramshah has both an operational and a symbolic value. The Manbaul Ulom madrassa was established by Jalaluddin and was used in the 1980s to train mujahideen to fight the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. The Haqqani family used the Manbaul Ulom madrassa as a training center and meeting place for senior al Qaeda leaders after the US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. The Asia Times' Syed Saleem Shahzad, who interviewed Siraj Haqqani, the son of Jalaluddin and a senior military commander in Afghanistan, described the madrassa as "a center of jihadi activities.
The madrassa also serves as the headquarters for the Haqqani Network, while the forward operating command center is located in the village of Zambar in the northern Sabari district in Khost province, Afghanistan. The network is active in the Afghan provinces of Khost, Paktia, Paktika, Ghazni, Logar, Wardak, and Kabul, and provides support to Taliban networks in Kunar, Nangarhar, Helmand, and Kandahar provinces.
The Haqqani family is believed to be behind some of the more spectacular attacks in Afghanistan.
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