In the first strike recorded in Pakistan in a month, the US yet again struck at a target in an area administered by the al Qaeda-linked Haqqani Network.

An unnamed Punjabi jihadist is reported to have been killed in a strike in the Miramshah area, which is administered by the Haqqani Network.

Hakeemullah Mehsud led the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan for four years before being killed today in a drone strike.

Hassan Ghul served as Osama bin Laden’s emissary to Abu Musab al Zarqawi, and later disclosed key information that led to the killing of bin Laden. The US captured Ghul in Iraq in 2004 and transferred him to Pakistan in 2006, where he was freed one year later, only to rejoin al Qaeda.

Today’s attack in the Taliban-controlled tribal agency of North Waziristan is the second by the US in two days. The strike took place in Datta Khel, a known hub of al Qaeda activity.

Three Haqqani network fighters were killed in the attack, which took place in the same town where Mullah Sangeen Zadran is rumored to have been killed in another drone strike earlier this month.

The strike is the first in nearly three weeks, and targeted a militant compound in Shawal, a known jumpoff point for jihadists heading to Afghanistan.

Two Jordanians and an Egyptian are said to have been killed in the Sept. 6 drone strike that reportedly killed Mullah Sangeen Zadran, a top Haqqani Network leader.
