A US missile strike targeting a top Taliban commander in Pakistan's restive northwest killed four mid-level Al-Qaeda operatives, a security official and a militant source said Wednesday, as fresh violence erupted in the lawless tribal area. Monday's strike in North Waziristan, however, failed to kill Jalaluddin Haqqani or his son, Sirajuddin, accused by Afghan and Western forces of orchestrating the insurgency across the border in Afghanistan.
The five missiles fired Monday, by suspected US drones, destroyed a seminary and an underground tunnel built by the Haqqanis in Darpa Dandekhen, near Miranshah, the main town in the troubled Pakistani tribal district. The aerial strike was reported to have killed 21.
"According to local sources the strike killed four Al-Qaeda operators and some extended family members of Haqqani's," a security official told
A source in Haqqani's group confirmed the death of four Arabs, identified as Abu Harris, Abu Hamza, Abu Qasim and Abu Musa Alkhyan. The four names are thought to be cover names and neither the security official nor the militant source would reveal their real identities.
The official said Hamza was believed to be an expert in making roadside bombs, while Harris was looking after the group's logistics in the North and South Waziristan areas.
Missile strikes targeting militants in Pakistan in recent weeks have been blamed on US-led coalition forces or CIA drones based in Afghanistan. Pakistan does not have missile-equipped drones.
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Haqqani, who was a close aid to fugitive Taliban leader Mullah Omar, has not been seen since the fall of the hard-line regime in Afghanistan in 2001. He is widely believed to be bed-ridden while his son is the main contact between Afghan and Pakistani Taliban militants based in North Waziristan.
Residents said that two pilotless aircraft circled over Dande Darpakhel, about two kilometers north of Miranshah, before at least one drone fired several missiles. |