Haqqani Network founder’s son killed in drone strike last week

Aim for the top

Afghanistan’s intelligence agency, the National Directorate of Security, confirmed Monday that an airstrike in Pakistan last week had killed Badruddin Haqqani, the son of Haqqani Network founder Jalaluddin Haqqani (AP, Reuters, Guardian). A senior Taliban leader said Saturday that Haqqani was killed by a U.S. drone strike in North Waziristan last Tuesday, while Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid rejected reports of his death as "propaganda of the enemy" (AP). Pakistan is investigating whether Haqqani was, indeed, killed in that drone strike (AP).

NATO officials said Saturday that a coalition airstrike the day before in the eastern Afghan province of Kunar had killed 12 militants, including senior Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) leader Mullah Dadullah, who was believed to be responsible for funneling weapons and fighters across the border (AP, NYT, Reuters, The News, LAT). The TTP on Saturday confirmed Dadullah’s death in an "airstrike by U.S.-led coalition forces" (ET).

Two U.S. soldiers were killed Monday in Laghman Province by an Afghan soldier, who turned his gun on his American colleagues after an argument, the latest in a string of insider attacks on NATO forces in recent weeks (ABC, CNN, Post, NYT). The same day, in the southern province of Helmand, five Afghan soldiers turned their guns on the other members of their unit, killing 10 and wounding four.

The Taliban beheaded 15 men and two women on Sunday night in Helmand Province, apparently because they were throwing a party with music and dancing, which the Taliban considers to be un-Islamic (AP, Reuters, BBC, AFP, Tel, NYT). In the eastern Afghan provinces of Laghman and Ghazni, villagers are forming their own militias in order to battle Taliban militants in their neighborhood who continue to destroy schools and threaten families whose sons have joined the Afghan Army (NYT).

Just need more time?

Pakistani prime minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf appeared before the Supreme Court today, and received permission to take until September 18 to consult his legal team on the court’s orders to ask Swiss authorities to reopen a corruption case against Pakistani president Asif Ali Zardari (ET, CNN, NYT). The court was expected to press charges of contempt against the prime minister on Monday, but it agreed to delay charges while Ashraf considers his legal defense.

Militants from Afghanistan snuck across the border for the third day on Sunday to launch an attack on an anti-Taliban militia checkpoint in the Bajaur tribal agency, setting off a gunfight that killed one soldier and 20 militants, according to a Pakistani official (AP). Thousands of villagers have fled North Waziristan over the past several days, after hearing news that the Pakistani Army may soon launch an operation against militants in the tribal agency (AFP). Most of those fleeing so far have headed to neighboring Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province, but other tribesmen said Saturday that they would renounce Pakistani citizenship and move to Afghanistan if the military begins operations in North Waziristan (ET, Dawn).

Three Shi’a Muslims were shot and killed in the restive southern Pakistani province of Balochistan on Monday (AFP).

K-P moonshine

As the militant group Lashkar-e-Islam’s influence declines in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province, residents are seeing a resurgence in the distilling of tharra, a local version of moonshine usually made from fruit and considered by many to be good for one’s health (ET). The liquor is sold in plastic bags for as little as 300-800 rupees (U.S. $3-8), but consumers should beware of drinking tharra made by distilleries that use incorrect methods, resulting in a beverage that will blind or kill a drinker.