Photo of Mullah Sangeen in coffin published on jihadist forum

site_sangeen.jpg

A photograph purporting to show the corpse of Mullah Sangeen Zadran, the senior Haqqani network leader who is thought to have been killed in a US drone strike on Sept. 5 in the Ghulam Khan area of Pakistan’s Taliban-controlled tribal agency of North Waziristan, was published today on the jihadist Jamia Hafsa Urdu Forum. The photograph was obtained by the SITE Intelligence Group and has been reproduced above.

US intelligence officials told The Long War Journal on Oct. 1 that they believe Mullah Sangeen was indeed killed in last month’s drone strike, and one official said he expects Mullah Sangeen “will be eulogized, given his prominence within the Haqqani Network and the Taliban, and due to his close relationship to al Qaeda.”

Unconfirmed reports indicate that Bilal Zadran has been named as Mullah Sangeen’s successor.

The Taliban and the Haqqani Network have yet to officially confirm that Mullah Sangeen is dead, but given the facts at hand, the odds of his being alive are slim.

For more information on Mullah Sangeen Zadran and his ties to al Qaeda, see LWJ reports, US State Department adds Mullah Sangeen to terrorist list, and Senior Haqqani Network leader again calls on Turks, Kurds to wage jihad in Afghanistan.

Bill Roggio is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Editor of FDD's Long War Journal.

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12 Comments

  • jayc says:

    Question for readers. Is it not against Islamic law to publish photographs of dead Muslims?

  • ahmed says:

    To jayc:
    No it isnt. There is difference of opinion as to the legality of photography itself, but those who believe photography to be valid have no second opinions regarding photographs of dead muslims.

  • dEVENDRA says:

    WELL DONE DRONES!!!!!
    Next targets….Mullah Fazlullah, Bahadar, Hakimullah Mehsud and the ENTIRE Haqqani family.
    GO GET’EM DRONES!!!

  • Bungo says:

    Looks pretty danged dead to me. Question: Is his carcass decorated with Christmas Tree Garland? The cotton balls where his eye would normally be is a nice touch. Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy. Peace, Out Homey!

  • Stephanie says:

    Jayc,
    ANYTHING is permissible for propaganda. The ends justifies the means. They love bloody pictures if it ignites your anger against America, Israel, and the Arab regimes.

  • EDDIED. says:

    Nice pose. A couple more like that should win photographs of the year for them.

  • don says:

    I’m hanging that pic on my Christmas tree. Must be a closet Jesus worshipper on their burial squad. He looks so cute dead:-)

  • Tankersteve says:

    Yay, we killed a big leader. I’m sure they will struggle to replace him and will be ineffective for months, if not years… Oh, what’s that – they already named a replacement?
    Well, it still made us feel good, despite the cost of a Hellfire, MQ-1/9, GO strike approval, etc.
    I’m sure we are ‘winning’.

  • gb says:

    That’s a good haji…I hope those wholes in his head go through and through

  • Devendra says:

    The only Good Terrorist is a Dead Terrorist. Mullah Sangeen looks so happy in the photo waiting for his 72 Virgins.
    “Say what ?? No virgins? What the Heck I gave up my life for. That’s what it was all about. What a rip off. Oh! Well. At least I will have a hand shake with Allah and complain about it and see if he can fix the situation. If not, there would be no more Muslim Jihadis willing to kill innocent men, women and children and attain paradise.”

  • DR says:

    That’s not a corpse just a head — nice shooting Tex.
    Unconfirmed reports indicate that Bilal Zadran …. just soiled his shorts on hearing of his promotion.

  • Bob Bobbins says:

    Thanks for the photo, now I know what a “good”(dead) muslim looks like!

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