Haqqani Network commander Sangeen Zadran was killed early on Friday in a United States (US) drone attack on village Dargo Mandi in North Waziristan Agency (NWA).
Reports from Miranshah, the NWA headquarter, revealed that militants from the network had established a compound in a house in the village.
A US drone fired two missiles at the compound, destroying the house, killing six of its occupants and injuring seven others who are being treated in various hospitals.
According to sources, Zadran, considered second in command of the network, after Sirajuddin Haqqani, was present in the compound. It is believed that Zadran was the target of the attack.
Sangeen was chief of operations of the network and was also engaged in resolving the rifts amongst different militant groups.
He was also known as the shadow governor of the Taliban for Paktika province of Afghanistan. The US State Department had added Zadran to the list of specially designated global terrorists in August 2011.
The coalition and Afghan forces had claimed in 2007 that they have killed Zadran in eastern Afghanistan. However, he had later appeared in a video to deny the claim.
Zadran, blamed for a number of attacks in Afghanistan, had been the target of several US drone strikes.
He once appeared with kidnapped US soldier Bowe Bergdahl in a Taliban video. Bergdahl, 24, was taken hostage by Taliban fighters in June 2009 after he left his military post in Paktika.
The Haqqani Network later handed him over to the Taliban, who wanted to exchange him with Taliban prisoners when the talks were to be held in Qatar in June. However, the talked ended in a deadlock after the closure of the Taliban office.
In a recent video Zadran had invited Kurds and Turks to come to Afghanistan to participate in jihad.
FO CONDEMNS ATTACK
While the US carries on with its drone strikes in Pakistan with impunity, the country’s Foreign Office issued a customary statement condemning the attack in the Ghulam Khan area of North Waziristan Agency.
“The government of Pakistan strongly condemns the US drone strike that took place in Ghulam Khan tehsil of North Waziristan. These unilateral strikes are a violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Pakistan has repeatedly emphasized the importance of bringing an immediate end to drone strikes,” said the statement.
