Jan Baz Zadran also known as Jamil or Jalil Haqqani, was a top aide to Pashtun warlord Sirajuddin Haqqani

Sirajuddin Haqqani

Sirajuddin "Siraj" Haqqani is a Pashtun warlord and military leader who fights against American and coalition forces from his base within North Waziristan in Pakistan, where it is claimed he provides shelter to Al Qaeda operatives...

. One of the most-wanted Taliban commanders in the AfPak

AfPak

AfPak is a neologism used within US foreign policy circles to designate Afghanistan and Pakistan as a single theater of operations.This policy approach introduced by the Obama administration along with the cooperation of its top commanders and allies regards the nations of Afghanistan and Pakistan...

 theater of operations, Baz Zadran was killed in a US drone strike

Drone attacks in Pakistan

The United States government, led by the Central Intelligence Agency's Special Activities Division, has made a series of attacks on targets in northwest Pakistan since 2004 using drones . These attacks are part of the US' War on Terrorism campaign, seeking to defeat Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants...

 in Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

 on 13 October 2011.

Militant Activity

Baz Zadran was considered a powerful leader in the Haqqani Network

Haqqani network

The Haqqani Network is an insurgent group fighting against US-led NATO forces and the government of Afghanistan. Originating from Afghanistan during the mid-1970s, it was nurtured by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence during the 1980s Soviet war in...

, the Islamist

Islamism

Islamism also , lit., "Political Islam" is set of ideologies holding that Islam is not only a religion but also a political system. Islamism is a controversial term, and definitions of it sometimes vary...

 militant group that has been the largest killer of American soldiers in Afghanistan

Afghanistan

Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...

. He was a political deputy to Sirajuddin Haqqani, but unlike the rest of the Miranshah

Miranshah

Miranshah is the capital or headquarters of North Waziristan in Pakistan. It is the site of a town, which has s small airfield that was built by the British for World War II. The area in which Miranshah sits is extremely dangerous mainly due to Taliban activities and U.S. Drone...

 Shura

Shura

Shura is an Arabic word for "consultation". The Quran and Muhammad encourage Muslims to decide their affairs in consultation with those who will be affected by that decision....

, he was not a military commander and did not have experience fighting under the Network's supreme leader, Jalaluddin Haqqani

Jalaluddin Haqqani

Mawlawi Jalaluddin Haqqani is the leader of the Haqqani network, an insurgent group fighting against US-led NATO forces and the government of Afghanistan. He also fought in the 1980s Soviet war in Afghanistan, including in the Operation Magistral...

.

Hailing from the Haqqanis' home village of Srani in the Garda Tseray district of Paktia

Paktia Province

Paktia , is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan, in the east of the country. Its capital is Gardez. The population is predominantly Pashtun.- History:...

, Baz Zadran was said to be one of Sirajuddin's most trusted associates, and was often described as the third-ranking leader of the entire Haqqani Network. He was in charge of the group's finances as well as weapons and ammunition acquisition, a position that gave him "considerable authority in the movement."

Death

On 13 October 2011, an American CIA drone

Drone

-Nature:The male sex of social Hymenopterans, such as a* Drone * male wasp* male ant-Chemicals:An abbreviation referring to one of two psychoactive drugs:* Mephedrone* 4-Methoxymethcathinone, commonly known as methedrone-Vehicles:...

 fired two missiles into a compound and vehicle in Dandey Darpakhel village, about seven kilometers north of Miranshah, the main town in the North Waziristan

North Waziristan

North Waziristan is the northern part of Waziristan, a mountainous region of northwest Pakistan, bordering Afghanistan and covering . Waziristan comprises the area west and south-west of Peshawar between the Tochi river to the north and the Gomal river to the south, forming part of Pakistan's...

tribal district of Pakistan. The missiles killed Baz Zadran and three other militants, said to be fighters guarding their superior as he was in the compound. Following Baz Zadran's death, a US official in Washington would call him the "the most senior Haqqani leader in Pakistan to be taken off the battlefield”.