CIA missiles kill brother of Afghan Taliban leader

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - CIA missiles struck the most feared Afghan Taliban faction, narrowly missing its commander and killing his brother in the latest blow to the insurgents, Pakistani intelligence officials said Friday.

The attack against the Haqqani group, which has close ties to al-Qaida, followed the arrest of the Afghan insurgency's No. 2 figure Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar and the assault on the Taliban's southern heartland in Afghanistan - a boost to the Obama administration's bid to reverse the tide of war.

Siraj Haqqani, the group's leader, was the apparent target of the attack Thursday in the insurgents' North Waziristan sanctuary, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not supposed to release details.

Haqqani was in the village to attend a funeral. He told his brother Mohammed to drive his SUV to a hideout. Moments after Mohammed Haqqani climbed aboard two missiles struck the vehicle, killing him and three militants, Pakistani and Taliban officials said Friday.

Had Siraj Haqqani been killed, it would have been a major blow to one of the most aggressive insurgent groups in Afghanistan. The fact that the United States came so close suggests the CIA is tightening the noose around the Haqqani organization.

In the Netherlands early Saturday, Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende has said the second largest party in his coalition is quitting the government over irreconcilable differences on whether to extend the Netherlands' military mission in Afghanistan.

The resignation of the Labor Party would leave his government with an unworkable majority.

Labor demanded Dutch soldiers leave Uruzgan province when their mandate expires in August. Balkenende's Christian Democratic Alliance wanted to keep a trimmed down military presence. - AP