NATO claims killing high ranked Haqqani Network leader in areal strike (Mian Shakeel Aslam)

Mian Shakeel Aslam---A week after the senior Haqqani network leader captured in Afghanistan, a coalition air strike killed one of his employees, said the NATO International Security Assistance Force Security Wednesday.

Dilawar, called by one name, died in the Musa Khel district of Khost province in eastern Afghanistan on Tuesday in what ISAF calls "another significant milestone in the disturbance of the Haqqani network." Two other militants in what was one of the coalition in Afghanistan were killed, ISAF said.

Dilawar was a "leader Haqqani" and "subordinate primary" in Mali Haji Khan, whose capture in Paktia province, last Tuesday, celebrated as a blow against the network, widely regarded as one of the most effective activist groups in Afghanistan.

Western officials believe that Haqqani was in the assassination last month of Burhanuddin Rabbani, Chairman of the Council of the Afghanistan Peace top, and involved a June attack on the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul.

Dilawar Khan Mali with planning attacks, including one of the Afghan armed forces ambushed in Paktia last month.

"Dilawar operated along the Afghan-Pakistan border between the provinces of Khost and Paktia, where he coordinates actively numerous attacks against Afghan forces and ease the flow of arms. Dilawar has also facilitated the movement of foreign fighters and was with two Al-Qaeda and the linked Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, "said the ISAF.

ISAF said the security forces have conducted over 530 transactions this year is "to disrupt the Haqqani network in eastern Afghanistan. He said that effort led to the deaths of 20 Heads of State and Government of the network and the seizure of more than1400 suspected insurgents Haqqani.

Khan is the uncle of Siraj Haqqani and Badruddin - the brothers who run the network - and worked directly under Siraj, database management and monitoring operations in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The network was founded by the father of Siraj Haqqani, fighting with the support of Pakistan, to protest against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. Today the group is expected to contact the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence agency in connection.

Posted By: Mian Shakeel Aslam

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/05/world/asia/afghanistan-violence/index.html?hpt=...