Haqqani network's business chief 'killed' by drone
26 August, 2012
ISLAMABAD: A CIA drone strike in Pakistan may have killed the operational commander of the Haqqani network, the insurgent group which is behind some of the most high-profile attacks on Western and Afghan government targets in Afghanistan, Pakistani intelligence officials and terrorist sources said on Saturday.
The officials said Badruddin Haqqani, who is also believed to handle the network's vital business interests and smuggling operations, may have been killed during a drone strike this week in North Waziristan Agency.
A senior Pakistani intelligence official said Badruddin had fled a compound that he and other terrorists were in after it was hit by a missile, then was killed by a second drone strike on a car that he was in.
There was no official word on Badruddin's fate from the Haqqani network. Other intelligence officials were more cautious.
"Our informers have told us that he has been killed in the drone attack on the 21st but we cannot confirm it," said one of the Pakistani intelligence officials.
"The drone fired two missiles on the house last Tuesday and killed 25 people, most of them members of the Haqqani family," one of the sources said.
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