Al-Qaeda-linked Haqqani Senior Leader Shot Dead In Pakistan

One of the most senior leaders of the Haqqani
militant network has been shot dead near the
Pakistani capital, Islamabad, security sources
say.
Nasiruddin Haqqani, who was in his early 30s, was
the group's financier and a son of its founder
Jalaluddin.
Reports say his body has been taken for burial to the
North Waziristan tribal area near the Afghan border.
It is not clear who shot him or why. Nasiruddin
Haqqani was on a US list of global terrorists.
The details of his death are still unclear, but reports
say he was killed in a shooting incident in the city of
Rawalpindi, next to Islamabad, on Sunday night.
Security sources confirmed the killing to the BBC.
Other reports quoted militant sources and witnesses,
who said unidentified gunmen on motorbikes
sprayed Haqqani with bullets as he stopped to buy
fresh bread from a bakery in the north-eastern
outskirts of the capital.
Another Haqqani brother, Badruddin, who had been
the group's operational commander, was killed in a
drone strike in August last year.
Nasiruddin's elder brother, Sirajuddin Haqqani, now
leads the group, while Jalaluddin remains its
figurehead.
As the group's main fundraiser, Nasiruddin
frequently travelled to the oil-rich sheikhdoms of the
Middle East to solicit donations.He represented the Haqqani network in last year's
efforts to set up a Taliban office in Doha for peace
talks with the United States.
He was also the group's main contact person for pro-
Taliban elements in Pakistan, as well as its
representative with the Afghan Taliban.
'Well-dressed networker'
Unlike his father and many of his brothers,
Nasiruddin Haqqani and two of his uncles did not live
in Miran Shah in North Waziristan. He chose to base
himself near Islamabad, from where he made his
many journeys abroad to secure funds.
Some sources said he had major business interests
in the Gulf, including a transport company.
Nasiruddin is not thought to have been publicly
photographed.
Those who have met him describe a tall, educated,
well-dressed man who travelled in expensive cars
and networked an extensive list of contacts all the
time.
They say his appearance gave no clue to his militant
connections. His code name was "the doctor",
possibly because of a degree that he had studied for.
His death will be a major blow to the Haqqanis, who
will need to find someone else to spearhead their
efforts to secure financing.
BBC correspondents say the killing will pile pressure
on the Pakistani government because Nasiruddin's
death happened on Pakistani soil.
Afghan authorities will be angry that someone who
had been working to facilitate peace moves with the
Afghan Taliban has been removed from the picture.
His death comes just 10 days after a US drone killed
Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud, who
was also reported to be on the verge of entering
peace talks with the government in Islamabad.
Those moves towards talks are now over. His
successor, the more hardline Mullah Fazlullah, swiftly
ruled out any negotiations.
Attempts to begin talks between the US, the Afghan
Taliban and the government in Kabul have been
stalled since June. www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-24898804