Siraj Haqqani, the group's leader, was the apparent target of the attack Thursday on a village in the insurgents' North Waziristan sanctuary, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not supposed to release details.
Haqqani was in the village to attend a funeral. Afterward, he told his brother Mohammed to drive his SUV to a hideout. Moments after Mohammed Haqqani climbed aboard two missiles struck the vehicle, killing him and three other militants, Pakistani and Taliban officials said Friday. Had Siraj Haqqani been killed, it would have been a major blow to one of the most aggressive insurgent groups in Afghanistan.
The fact that the US came so close suggests the CIA is tightening the noose around the Haqqani organisation even in a sanctuary where it has operated for years. The attack also suggests the Pakistanis may be providing vital intelligence to the US, even though Islamabad has resisted pressure to launch ground operations in North Waziristan. The two Haqqanis are sons of Jalaluddin Haqqani, a former US ally in the war against the Soviets in the 1980s.