Haqqani Network founder dead
U.S. ALLY TURNED FOE Once a CIA asset, Jalaluddin is thought to have introduced suicide bombings to Afghanistan KABUL:
Jalaluddin Haqqani, founder of the militant Haqqani Network, one of the most powerful and feared groups in the Afghan insurgency, has died after a long illness, the Taliban said on Tuesday.
Haqqani, who founded the network in the 1970s, gave up operational leadership of the group some years ago to his son Sirajuddin, who is now deputy leader of the Afghan Taliban, with a $5 million US bounty on his head.
“Haqqani had become quite old and was suffering from different health problems,” said one Taliban source close to the Haqqani family.
The Taliban issued a statement on Haqqani’s death but did not say where or when he died but said he had been ill and bed-ridden for several years.
Defence ministry spokesman Mohammad Radmanish said the death was not expected to mean any major change for the Haqqani network, blamed by Afghan and US security officials for some of the most devastating suicide attacks of the past decade.
Haqqani achieved prominence as a guerrilla leader in the US-backed campaign against Soviet forces occupying Afghanistan during the 1980s but later allied himself with the Taliban, fighting American troops after the Taliban were ousted in 2001.
Haqqani is considered to have introduced suicide bombing to Afghanistan, where it was previously unknown, and his group became notorious for complex, well-organised attacks on both Afghan and US military, as well as civilian targets and high-profile kidnappings.
With hopes for peace talks raised by an unprecedented ceasefire in June, news of the death of one of the most notorious militant commanders comes at a sensitive time for both the Taliban and Kabul’s Western-backed government.
Jalaluddin Haqqani’s death has been reported a number of times over recent years and the reports have never been disproved.
A security official in Kabul, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Afghan intelligence services believed that Haqqani had in fact died some three years ago. The official said the announcement of the death should be seen in connection with increased pressure from the US on Pakistan over accusations that Islamabad is not doing enough to defeat militant groups on its territory. The Haqqanis have frequently been accused of targeting Indian installations in Afghanistan, spurring speculation they are overseen by Pakistani intelligence. Analysts say Pakistan appears to view the Haqqanis and more broadly the Afghan Taliban as an asset holding India at bay in Afghanistan Long suspected of links to Pakistan’s military establishment, the group was described by US Admiral Mike Mullen in 2011 as a “veritable arm” of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) WHO WAS JALALUDDIN HAQQANI? been led by his son Sirajuddin, who also doubles as the Afghan Taliban’s deputy leader Unverified reports placed Jalaluddin in Pakistan. There is no confirmation yet of where he was when he died The founder of the Haqqani Network, he was an Afghan mujahideen commander fighting the Soviet occupation in the 1980s with the help of the US and Pakistan. US officials admit he was a prized asset of the CIA He also fostered close ties with Arab jihadis, including Osama bin Laden, and was a bridge between the Taliban and al-Qaeda. Later, he became a minister in the Taliban regime
Jalaluddin is believed to have been ill for several years, and the network has Following the US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, Taliban fighters flooded across the border into Pakistan. That included the Haqqanis, who coordinated attacks on Nato from across the border
The US launched drone attacks against the group, while Pakistan’s military conducted clearing operations, though Afghan officials have noted they always seemed to miss
With his son Sirajuddin firmly in charge, Jalaluddin’s death may not have much impact on the network’s operations Assassination attempts on Afghan President Hamid Karzai
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