Senior al Qaeda military commander killed in Predator strikeFebruary 20, 2010 12:13 PM ET
By Bill Roggio
The US killed a key al Qaeda military leader based in Pakistan's Taliban-controlled tribal agency
of North Waziristan during an airstrike on Feb. 17.
Sheikh Mansoor, an al Qaeda military commander in North Waziristan, is thought to have
been killed in the Feb. 17 airstrike. Mansoor was a
Canadian citizen and directed attacks
in Afghanistan.
Sheikh Mansoor was killed in a Predator attack that targeted a Taliban compound in the village
of Tapi near Miramshah, the main town in North Waziristan. Two other "militants" were initially
reported killed in the airstrike; it is not currently known if there were any other senior al Qaeda
or Taliban operatives killed. Dawn News reported that the airstrike "left number of other important
militants killed."
Both Geo News and Dawn reported that a funeral was held for Mansoor, and that Mohammed Haqqani,
a mid-level Haqqani Network military commander and brother of the group's top military commander
Siraj Haqqani, was killed by another drone strike while preparing to attend Mansoor's burial on Feb. 18.
US intelligence officials contacted by The Long War Journal said they believe Sheikh Mansoor was killed
in the attack on Feb. 17.
"We're pretty sure that Mohammed Haqqani was killed while going to Sheikh Mansoor's burial," an intelligence
official said. "We were gunning for Siraj but got his little brother instead. It is still a good kill; the Haqqanis
are dangerous and Mohammed was involved in the family business."
Sheikh Mansoor was a commander in al Qaeda's Lashkar al Zil, or the Shadow Army, US officials said.
He was based in North Waziristan but carried out attacks against US and Afghan forces across the border
in Afghanistan.
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http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2010/02/senior_al_qaeda_mili.php#ixzz0g8fDXRpi