Missile strike killed ‘Sopranos of terror’
‘TALIBAN MOB FAMILY’ MEMBERS SLAIN
FAMILY members of Taliban mob “The Sopranos of terror” died in the US missile attack on al-Qaeda boss Ayman Zawahiri, sources say.
The militant (71) was killed in two R9X “ninja” Hellfire strikes on the balcony of a posh house run by the head of the Haqqani crime syndicate last weekend.
But despite US claims no civilians were killed, sources say several Haqqani relatives lost their lives in the drone hit.
Zawahiri was staying at a Kabul home run by Sirajuddin Haqqani, also second in command of the Taliban, which took over Afghanistan last year as Western forces evacuated.
It is also believed the heads of the Haqqanis have fled the country, sparking a power-struggle.
Sources said the
CIA hit has sparked a potentially violent split between the Haqqanis and the
Yaqoobs Taliban clan based in Kandahar. Afghan leaders are also bracing for a wave of attacks.
Meetings
Speaking about the strike, a western intelligence analyst told The Irish Daily Star: “We believe Sirajuddin was having meetings with Zawahiri but was probably not in the house at the time of the killing.
“The information we have is that members of his family also died in the strike but we do not have their identities and may never have them.”
One Taliban leader in Kabul revealed the network is holding crisis meetings on how to react to the strike.
The killing of Zawahiri has further strained relations between the Taliban and the West, particularly as the Afghan rulers need cash to handle an economic catastrophe since their takeover.