KABUL - The Obama administration is going after the Haqqani network in a more aggressive manner, launching a new round of strikes to target and dismantle the group responsible for bulk of insurgent attacks in Afghanistan, US officials said.
The Haqqani network, which is based in Pakistan's tribal areas, has recently been accused of having close relations with Pakistan's military. Islamabad denies having such ties.

On Thursday, a CIA drone strike killed three members of the Haqqani network, including a senior official, and additional strikes on Friday left four insurgents dead, the Associated Press reported.
The drone attacks were concentrated near Haqqani strongholds.

One of several US officials who spoke anonymously said the decision to strike Miran Shah, the hub of the Haqqanis, was made at a National Security Council meeting led by President Obama two weeks ago.

Officials said it was a signal that the United States would no longer tolerate a safe haven for the most lethal enemy of US forces in Afghanistan.

The option to carry out ground operations against Haqqani leaders similar to the raid that killed Osama bin Laden was not on the table at the time of the meeting, officials said.

Afghan experts say that now there is a widespread understanding of the deep relations between Pakistan and the Haqqanis, the US would not regret a single opportunity to target and get rid of the network.

"Pakistan hoped to send the Haqqanis to Afghan side [of the border] and tell the world that the network is not on its territory, but that never happened," Dr Tahir Mohammad Ashim, a political analyst, said.

Officials in Kabul accuse the Haqqanis of conducting operations against government institutions and foreign troops fighting the insurgency in Afghanistan.