The Haqqani Network is an independent insurgent group originating in Afghanistan that is closely allied with the Taliban.[2] Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani along with his son Sirajuddin Haqqani lead the Haqqani network, which is based in the Afghanistan–Pakistan border areas. According to US military commanders it is "the most resilient enemy network"[3] and one of the biggest threats to NATO and United States forces in Afghanistan.[4] Some notable US officials have alleged that Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) service has been enabling the network.[5] Rehman Malik, Pakistan's Interior Minister, refuted the allegations and said that Pakistan had no relations with the network and that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had "trained and produced" the Haqqani network and other mujahideen during the Soviet war in Afghanistan.[6][7][8][9] Malik's statements were contradicted by the network's warnings against any US military incursions into North Waziristan and by the Pakistan Army's public acknowledgement of contacts with the Haqqanis.Maulvi Haqqani rose to prominence and was recognized as a senior military leader during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. It has been alleged[by whom?] that he visited the White House during the presidency of Ronald Reagan[10]; however, recent development shows that the picture used as evidence is not of Haqqani and that he never even visited the US.[11] Like Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, Haqqani was more successful than other resistance leaders at forging relationships with outsiders prepared to sponsor resistance to the Soviets, including the CIA, Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), and wealthy Arab private donors from the Persian Gulf. In the late 1980's, Haqqani had the CIA's full support.[12] Foreign jihadists recognized the network as a distinct entity as early as 1994, but Haqqani was not affiliated with the Taliban until they captured Kabul and assumed de facto control of Afghanistan in 1996.[13][14] After the Taliban came to power, Haqqani accepted a cabinet level appointment as Minister of Tribal Affairs.[15] As Jalaluddin has grown older his son Sirajuddin has taken over the responsibility of military operations.[4] Journalist Syed Saleem Shahzad reported that President Hamid Karzai had invited the younger Haqqani to serve as Prime Minister in an attempt to bring "moderate" Taliban into the government. The militant refused.[15]
[edit] Leadership
Jalaluddin Haqqani
Sirajuddin Haqqani
Badaruddin Haqqani - younger brother of Sirajuddin[16]
Sangeen Zadran - According the US State Department, he is a senior lieutenant to Sirajuddin and the shadow governor for Paktika province in Afghanistan.[16][17][18]
Nasiruddin Haqqani[16]
Abdul Aziz Abbasin - According to the U.S. Treasury, he is "a key commander in the Haqqani Network" and serves as the "Taliban shadow governor of Orgun District, Paktika Province, Afghanistan.The Christian Science Monitor, citing unnamed US and Afghan sources, reported in June 2009 that the leadership is based in Miranshah, North Waziristan in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan along the Afghan border[2] The network is active in Afghanistan's southeastern areas of Paktia Province, Paktika Province, Khost Province, Wardak Province, Logar Province, and Ghazni Province.[2] In September 2011, Sirajuddin Haqqani told Reuters that the group feels "more secure in Afghanistan besides the Afghan people."[22]
Haqqani is reported to run his own training camps, to recruit his own foreign fighters, and to seek out financial and logistic support on his own, from his old contacts.[4] The New York Times reported in September 2011 that the Haqqanis have set up a "ministate" in Miranshah with courts, tax offices and madrassas, and that the network runs a series of front companies selling automobiles and real estate. They also receive funds from extortion and smuggling operations throughout eastern Afghanistan. In an interview a former Haqqani commander called the extortion "the most important source of funding for the Haqqanis."[23]
Estimates of the Haqqanis's numbers vary. A 2009 New York Times article indicates that they are thought to have about 4,000 to 12,000 Taliban under their command while a 2011 report from the Combating Terrorism Center places its strength roughly at 10,000-15,000.[24][14] During a September 2011 interview, Sirajuddin Haqqani said the figure of 10,000 fighters, as quoted in some media reports, "is actually less than the actual number."[22] Throughout its history the network's operations have been conducted by small, semi-autonomous units organized according to tribal and sub-tribal affiliations often at the direction of and with the logistical support of Haqqani commanders.[14]
The Haqqani network pioneered the use of suicide attacks in Afghanistan and tend to use mostly foreign bombers whereas the Taliban tend to rely on locals in attacks.[2] It makes money by extortion, kidnappings and other crime in eastern provinces of Afghanistan.[citation needed] According to a tribal elder in Paktia "Haqqani's people ask for money from contractors working on road construction. They are asking money or goods from shopkeepers, District elders and contractors are paying money to Afghan workers, but sometimes half of the money will go to Haqqani's people."[10] The network, according to the National Journal, supplies much of the potassium chlorate used in bombs employed by the Taliban in Afghanistan. Also, the network's bombs use more sophisticated remote triggering devices than the pressure-plated activators used elsewhere in Afghanistan. Sirajuddin Haqqani told MSNBC in April 2009 that his fighters had, "acquired the modern technology that we were lacking, and we have mastered new and innovative methods of making bombs and explosives."[25]
[edit] Attacks and alleged attacks
January 14, 2008: 2008 Kabul Serena Hotel attack is thought[by whom?] to have been carried out by the network.[4]
March, 2008: Kidnapping of British journalist Sean Langan was blamed on the network.[26]
April 27, 2008: Assassination attempts on Hamid Karzai.[2][not in citation given]
July 7, 2008: US intelligence blamed the network for 2008 Indian embassy bombing in Kabul.[27]
November 10, 2008: The Kidnapping of David Rohde was blamed on Sirajuddin Haqqani.[28]
December 30, 2009: Camp Chapman attack is thought[by whom?] to have been carried out by the network.[29]
May 18, 2010: May 2010 Kabul bombing was allegedly[by whom?] carried out by the network.[30]
February 19, 2011: Kabul Bank in Jalalabad, Afghanistan.[31][not in citation given]
June 28, 2011: According to ISAF, elements of the Haqqani network provided "material support" in the 2011 attack on the Hotel Inter-Continental in Kabul.[32] The Taliban claimed responsibility.[33]
The Pentagon blamed the network for the September 10, 2011 attack: A massive truck bomb explodes outside Combat Outpost Sayed Abad in Wardak province, Afghanistan, killing five Afghans, including four civilians, and wounding 77 U.S. soldiers, 14 Afghan civilians, and three policemen.[34]
US Ambassador Ryan Crocker blamed the Haqqani network for a September 12, 2011 attack on the US Embassy and nearby NATO bases in Kabul. The attack lasted 19 hours and resulted in the deaths of four police officers and four civilians. 17 civilians and six NATO soldiers were injured. Three coalition soldiers were killed. Eleven insurgent attackers were killed.
