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US strike kills Haqqani commander in North Waziristan

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The unmanned aircraft fired two missiles at a compound in Dandey Darpakhel village, about seven kilometres north of Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan tribal district.

"Jamil Haqqani, an important Afghan commander of Haqqani network was the target and was killed," a Pakistani security official told AFP on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to talk to the media.

An intelligence official in Miranshah confirmed the killing and said Jamil was in his thirties.

"He was working as a coordinator of the Haqqani network in North Waziristan," the official said.

The official said the three other people killed in the strike were Haqqani's fighters, guarding the commander in the compound.

Jamil is understood to have been responsible for logistics in North Waziristan.

Officials said he was not a relative of Jalaluddin, the Afghan warlord who founded the Taliban faction, or his son Sirajuddin who now runs the network but that he was "very close to the top commanders including Sirajuddin".

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011