That Was Fast…

By Mark Thompson | @MarkThompson_DC | June 30, 2011 | +

The Kabul Intercontinental Hotel under attack June 29 / Massoud Hossaini / AFP / Getty Images

Smoke and flames light up the night from a blaze at the Intercontinental hotel after an attack on the hotel by Taliban fighters and a response by Afghan security forces backed by NATO helicopters in Kabul on June 29, 2011. Taliban suicide bombers and gunmen attacked the hotel popular with foreigners and Afghan officials, sparking a five-hour assault that left several casualties and part of the building in flames. NATO helicopters were called in to help crush the brazen attack, which officials said ended in the early hours of on June 29 with six would-be suicide bombers killed by security forces. AFP PHOTO/Massoud HOSSAINI (Photo credit should read MASSOUD HOSSAINI/AFP/Getty Images)

Word from Afghanistan that a suspected key enabler of the attack on Kabul’s Intercontinental Hotel Tuesday night was killed in a precision air strike Wednesday:

KABUL, Afghanistan – The International Security Assistance force confirmed today a top Haqqani Network leader suspected of providing material support to the Kabul suicide bomb attack June 28, was killed in a precision airstrike in Gardez District, Paktiya province, yesterday. Ismail Jan was the deputy to the senior Haqqani commander inside Afghanistan, Haji Mali Khan. Jan and several Haqqani fighters were killed in strike.

The attack killed 21, including nine militants. The statement announcing Jan’s death notes he was located thanks to intelligence work from, among others “disenfranchised insurgents.” Guess those guys hold a grudge. Or it could just be some allied psyop.

Related Topics: Afghanistan, National Security, Pakistan, Terrorism

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