Source: DTN News / By Zahid Hussain WSJ
(NSI News Source Info) ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - February 19, 2010: A brother of Sirajuddin Haqqani, a militant leader linked to both the Taliban and al Qaeda, was killed in the latest U.S. drone-launched missile strike in northwestern Pakistan, dealing yet another blow to the insurgents engaged in fighting the U.S.-led coalition forces in Afghanistan.
US Air Force shows an RQ-4 Global Hawk Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) landing at Beale Air Force Base, Calif. The increasing demand for drones raises complex questions because the aircraft are piloted remotely, often from thousands of miles away. Their intrusion into crowded air traffic lanes would require constant monitoring and coordination to avoid airliners, small propeller planes, tall buildings and possibly each other.
Mohammed Haqqani and three associates were killed when missiles fired from a pilotless aircraft Thursday evening struck a compound in Dande Darpa Khel village in North Waziristan tribal region, a Pakistani security official said.
The strike was apparently aimed at Sirajuddin who is the head of the powerful Haqqani network that has been responsible for some recent major attacks in the Afghan capital of Kabul. But he was not present in the area at the time of the attack.
The death of Mohammed Haqqani, who was also actively involved in the Afghan insurgency, comes as a blow to the insurgent group and reinforces the effectiveness of the controversial U.S. campaign of drone strikes in Pakistan's lawless tribal region along the border with Afghanistan.
The Obama administration's policy of using Predator drones as a major weapon in the attacks on militant sanctuaries has taken out many senior al Qaeda and Taliban leaders in the past year.
Despite public statements by Pakistani leaders criticizing the action as an infringement on the country's sovereignty, the attacks are carried out with the collaboration of Pakistani security agencies. 
Pakistani soldiers take part in a military exercise in Multan February 19, 2010. Pakistan's arrest of an Afghan Taliban commander was not done under pressure from its U.S. ally and shows the sincerity of its fight against terrorism, the foreign minister said.
The latest strike followed a wave of arrests of Afghan Taliban commanders in Pakistan, indicating a shift in Islamabad's policy of allowing the insurgent leadership safe haven on its soil.
American officials have long accused the Inter-Services Intelligence agency, or ISI, Pakistan's premier spy agency, of actively aiding the Afghan Taliban.
The arrests earlier this month of Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban's No. 2 leader, and of Taliban "shadow governors" of two Afghan provinces are seen as a clear indication that Pakistan is now more willing to go after the Afghan Taliban leadership believed to be hiding in Karachi and other Pakistani cities.
The crackdown also comes as U.S., NATO and Afghan troops launched the biggest offensive against the insurgents since 2001 in the Taliban stronghold of Marjah in southern Afghanistan.
The arrest of Mullah Baradar, who was considered second in command to Mullah Omar, in a joint operation is seen as an indication of growing cooperation between the U.S. and Pakistani intelligence services.
The Haqqani network, which is closely linked with al Qaeda, was believed to be involved in a suicide attack by a Jordanian double agent on a forward base of Central Intelligence Agency in eastern Afghanistan in December. The bombing killed seven CIA operatives.
The U.S. drone strikes on North Waziristan, which is considered a stronghold of the Haqqani network, have increased significantly after the CIA base attack. The vast compound in Dande Darpa Khel village that was hit on Thursday also served as the Haqqani family home. More than one dozen people, including the wife of one brother and some children, were killed last year in a similar attack.
The U.S. considers the network one of the biggest threats to its operations in Afghanistan, and has pressed Pakistan to move against its sanctuaries. Pakistan has held off on any major operation in the area, but provides active assistance to the U.S. missile campaign.
The network's leader, Jalaluddin Haqqani, was a legendary commander and key U.S ally in the Mujahideen war against the Soviet occupation forces in 1980s.
The aging guerrilla leader had also hosted Osama bin Laden. The group still provides sanctuary to scores of al Qaeda fighters on both sides of the border.
Sirajuddin has taken over the leadership of the network after failing health and age forced the father to retire. Though loosely connected to the Afghanistan's Taliban movement led by Mullah Omar, the group operates as an autonomous faction.
Sirajuddin represents the new generation of militant commander and is regarded as smarter and more ferocious than other warlords.
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