Family members of Afghanistan’s most-feared Taliban mafia clan dubbed “The Sopranos of Terror” died in the US missile strike on Al-Qaeda boss Ayman al-Zawahiri, sources say.
The 71-year-old militant chief was killed in two precision Hellfire missile strikes on the balcony of a posh house run by the head of the Haqqani extremist crime syndicate in a CIA operation last weekend.
But despite US claims no civilians were killed in the “ninja” Hellfire hit, sources say several Haqqani relatives were killed by the missiles that hit Zawahiri as he stood on a balcony.
He was staying at a home run by Sirajuddin Haqqani, head of the powerful network of the same name and also number two in the Taliban, which took over Afghanistan last year as the west evacuated.
The missile strike is now believed to have killed relatives of the powerful clan boss and it is also believed the heads of the Haqqanis have fled Afghanistan, prompting a power struggle.
Sources have told the Mirror that the aftermath of the Zawahiri hit has sparked a potentially violent split between the Haqqanis and another Taliban clan the Yaqoobs based in Kandahar.
Afghan Taliban leaders, who have denied knowing that Al-Qaeda veteran was staying in Kabul, are also bracing for a wave of violence after today’s Friday prayers today in protest.
Zawahiri was wiped out in a drone-launched precision-hit by an R9X six-bladed Hellfire missile dubbed a “ninja” variant of the bomb because it slices up its victims on impact.
The Mirror has learnt the R9X - which extends razor-sharp swords as it screams towards the target - was used in the 2015 drone killing of ISIS Brit Mohammed Emwazi -AKA Jihadi John.
But it is also believed there were two missiles used on Sunday, which may account for claims that members of the Haqqani clan were also killed in the clandestine air strike led by the CIA.
Some witnesses suggested there was no explosion but if two missiles were used one may have killed others in the building as Zawahiri died on the balcony.
US officials have dubbed the Zawahiri hit the biggest blow to the global terror network in more than a decade since its founder Osama bin Laden was killed in Pakistan in 2011.
It has prompted a massive purge in Kabul as the Taliban quietly are trying to hunt down a CIA agent cell, hired by the intelligence agency, to spy from within.
It is believed it was these sources who tipped off their CIA handlers that incredibly al-Zawahiri had emerged in Kabul and was staying in the Haqqani leader’s house.
A western intelligence analyst told the Mirror: “We believe Sirajuddin was having meetings with Zawahiri but was probably not in the house at the time of the killing.
“The information we have is that members of his family also died in the strike but we do not have their identities and may never have them.”
One Taliban leader in Kabul revealed the network, which overran Kabul last August prompting a mass evacuation, is holding crisis meetings on how to react to the strike.
The Taliban said they are investigating what they described as "claims" that Al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahri was killed in the US drone strike in the Afghan capital.
It has insisted in a statement that they had "no knowledge of the arrival and residence" of al-Zawahri in Afghanistan.
The killing of al-Zawahri has further strained relations between the Taliban and the West, particularly as the Afghan rulers need cash to handle an economic catastrophe.
The Taliban had promised in the 2020 Doha Agreement with the US that they would not harbour Al-Qaeda members or those seeking to attack the US.
The Taliban couched the spy purge by saying they "ordered the detection and intelligence agencies to conduct serious and comprehensive investigations on various aspects of the mentioned event".
It also contained assurances to the West, saying that "there is no danger from the territory of Afghanistan to any country including America".
It said the Taliban want the implementation of the Doha Agreement.
The strike early on Sunday shook Shirpur, once a district of historic buildings that were bulldozed in 2003 to make way for luxury homes for officials in Afghanistan's Western-backed government and international aid organisations.
After the US withdrawal in August 2021, senior Taliban moved into some of the abandoned homes there.
US officials have said al-Zawahri was staying at the home of Sirajuddin Haqqani, who is the deputy head of the Taliban and interior minister in their government.
He also heads the Haqqani network, a powerful faction within the movement, funded by crime but which holds a deep Islamist commitment.
The Haqqani network is a tight-knit and ruthless Afghan Islamic insurgent group, built around the family of the same name, and also based in Pakistan.
In the 1980s, it fought Soviet forces and over the past 20 years it battled US-led Nato troops and the former Afghanistan government.
The US government maintains a 10 million dollar bounty on Sirajuddin Haqqani for attacks on American troops and Afghan civilians.
He is believed to be responsible for the deaths of hundreds of coalition troops throughout years of warfare in Afghanistan.
But the Haqqanis, from Afghanistan's eastern Khost province, have rivals within the Taliban leadership, mostly from the southern provinces of Helmand and Kandahar.
Some believe Haqqani wants more power.
Other Taliban figures have opposed the Haqqanis' attacks against civilians in Kabul and elsewhere during the insurgency.
During the first half of 2022, al-Zawahri increasingly reached out to supporters with video and audio messages, including assurances that Al-Qaeda could compete with the so-called Islamic State group for leadership of a global movement.
Islamic State has been a threat to Al-Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan and has launched massive bomb attacks, including the evacuation attack in Kabul when 13 US soldiers and 170 Afghans.
A sole ISIS suicide bomber infiltrated crowds as they waited to flee Afghanistan and let off a massive blast.
His suicide belt was loaded with 20 pounds of explosives packed with ball bearings which tore through the crowd at Kabul airport’s Abbey Gate.
