Islamabad: Gunmen on the outskirts of Islamabad shot dead a senior leader of one of the most feared al-Qaida-linked militant groups fighting U.S. troops in Afghanistan, a Pakistani Taliban commander and an intelligence official said on Monday.
Nasiruddin Haqqani, a key financier of the Haqqani network, was gunned down by armed men riding a motorcycle on Sunday night in a residential area called Bhara Kahu, which is only a few kilometers (a couple of miles) from the U.S. Embassy.
He had stopped to buy fresh bread at the local bakery, said witness Tanveer Ahmed, who was nearby when the shooting occurred but only learned the dead man's identity later.
The attack left blood stains on the pavement and bullet holes in the bakery's tiled wall.
The Haqqani network is a key ally of the Afghan Taliban and has pledged allegiance to its leader, Mullah Omar, though it operates fairly independently.
