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.
