(Previous Incident Code: Ob289 )

Between four and 25 people were killed in a US led drone strike, including Badruddin Haqqani, son of the Haqqani leader and the network’s military commander.

According to local media, the CIA bombed a house and a vehicle in Shana Kora village, 10km from Miranshah.

The group confirmed his death in September 2013 in a video message that included a statement acknowledging his death from Mullah Muhammed Omar, leader of the Afghan Taliban.

In May 2011 the UN Security Council had listed Haqqani as a supporter of al Qaeda, stating, “Badruddin is assumed to be one of the most important military leaders and planners of suicide attacks within the Haqqani Network which commands about 1000 fighters. The Haqqani Network is responsible for a large number of the attacks that have occurred in eastern Afghanistan and in Kabul. Badruddin is deemed to be directly involved in attacks against foreign and Afghan forces as well as against civilians; he cooperates closely with other terrorist organizations such as Al-Qaida and the IMU.”

A ‘senior Taliban commander’ said Haqqani had died in the strike and Afghanistan’s intelligence agency also reported him dead. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid initially denied Haqqani’s death, saying he was alive in Afghanistan.

However, US officials told the Washington Post on August 29: ‘We now believe he is dead’. Taliban officials later confirmed to local journalists that Badruddin had indeed died, the Bureau was told. An unnamed US official suggested to the New York Times that the attack had been a signature strike – targeting suspicious patterns of behaviour – rather than expressly targeting Haqqani. Additional reports said that other members of Haqqani’s family had died in the attack. 13-year-old Osama Haqqani, described by Reuters as a ‘distant relative’, was reported by a number of sources to have been killed. A further report claimed:

There are three fresh graves in the family graveyard of Haqqanis. However, the family is reluctant to arrange any death ceremonies amid persistent US drone flights in the area.’

Reuters among others reported that far more civilians had died in the strike, quoting a source: ‘The drone fired two missiles on the house last Tuesday and killed 25 people, most of them members of the Haqqani family.’ Two days after the strike, Pakistan’s government again protested the strikes. An official release stated:

The US Embassy was today démarched on recent drone strikes in North Waziristan. A senior US diplomat was called to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and informed that the drone strikes were unlawful, against international law and a violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty. It was emphatically stated that such attacks were unacceptable.

Concern was later expressed that the death of such a senior member of the Haqqani family might impact upon negotiations for the release of a US Prisoner of War. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, captured on June 30 2009, was thought to be held captive by the Haqqani network. AP also noted Badruddin’s personal involvement with the kidnapping of US Journalist David Rohde.