When the Afghan government was unveiled this week, the task of delivering a Taliban pledge not to provide jihadist protection was given to a US “international terrorist” with $ 10m of the FBI on his head.
Sirajuddin Haqqani, the deputy leader of the Taliban and the new interior minister in Afghanistan, is leading the Haqqani terrorist group, which a US expert described as a “militant group known as a militant group”. He is wanted by the US for a 2008 bombing in Kabul.
His role as well as that of other military personnel in the state fast they hope that Muslims can be more inclusive and narrow their minds. It also leaves Washington with no choice but to rely on Haqqani despite its alliance with al-Qaeda and the history of the US invasion.
“They are playing a very smart game, opening the door for western corporations. He killed and arrested several members of Isis in recent weeks, “said Kamal Alam, a security expert at the Atlantic Council, a think tank in the US.
The Haqqanis’ rise is a testament to the importance of the group in the fight against the Afghan government and its allies, says Ioannis Koskinas, a senior New American tank official.
“For the winners go the spoils,” he said. While the US was disrupted by long-running peace talks, “Taliban security forces insisted on winning the war in Afghanistan. Haqqan was an important part of the Taliban’s victory.”
Sirajuddin Haqqani, FBI’s new interior minister © FBI via Reuters
Established by Sirajuddin’s father Jalaluddin Haqqani, a former mujahideen chief, the name comes from the Darul Uloom Haqqani madrassa in northwestern Pakistan, called ‘University of Jihad’.
The Haqqanis were secretly aided by the CIA through the hands of Pakistani intelligence, ISI, to carry out violent protests against the Soviet Union during his stay in Afghanistan in the 1980s.
An expert in Arabic, Jalaluddin strengthened his relationship with al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden and invested heavily in madrassas as a training ground for new fighters.
When the US invaded Afghanistan in 2001 in retaliation for the September 11 attacks, the Haqqani network flew from Loya Paktia in southeastern Afghanistan to Pakistan’s Waziristan province, where it operated in secure housing.
Sirajuddin took over the reins in the mid-2000s, and is known to be dangerous, including a bomb blast at the Serena Hotel in Kabul that killed six people, and tried to assassinate Afghan President Hamid Karzai in 2008.
Gretchen Peters, a foreign legal expert, says the Haqqani network operates not only as a military unit but also as a mafia-like organization. Its most lucrative taxes include kidnapping, kidnapping for ransom, embezzlement, money laundering, drug trafficking and extortion from donors in the Arab world, he explained.
He believes that the war between the Haqqanis and the US has been so long and “brutal” that it would be difficult for the two to reconcile. “Most of their relatives were taken away by drone demonstrations, the idea that the US could work with them in any way is doubtful,” he said.
However in 2018, while the US opened talks on an agreement to leave Afghanistan, a Haqqanis were given a seat at the table. Anas Haqqani, Sirajuddin’s brother, was released from prison as part of a prisoner-exchange deal to join the Taliban negotiating group in Qatar.
A few days before the agreement was signed in early 2020, Sirajuddin, a military chief of staff, wrote a an interesting looking article in the New York Times. “He was a very feared leader, the Americans were behind him but he said all the good things white people want to hear,” said Zahid Hussain, author. Not Winning War: Disruptions to US-Pakistan Relations in Afghanistan’s Shadow.
Ashley Jackson, director general of the Overseas Development Institute’s Center for the Study of Armed Groups, says the US has laid the groundwork for bringing Afghan security forces across the country to a safe haven – but the Taliban militants have curtailed the process.
“You [now] “It is very difficult when the Taliban and US governments are in a state of mutual trust,” he said.
Nasratullah Haqpal, a political analyst in Kabul, said the US “wanted the Taliban to rule and prevent threats to the West”. In return, they may be ready to help the Taliban “directly or indirectly”.
Koskinas of the New American think tank described Pakistan, which has been heavily affected by the Taliban and Haqqanis after providing Islamic venues for years.
Taliban freedom fighters live near street vendors in Kabul on Friday © AP
“Pakistan really has more opportunities than the Haqqanis. It is a question of turning more interests over control,” he said.
For those who have been conducting research in Afghanistan for a long time, the country has been at a crossroads, with terrorists taking control despite 20 years of war, more than 150,000 people and billions of dollars destroyed.
Sushant Sareen, a security analyst at the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi, said that even if the US forced the terrorists through sanctions and international spending, it would be difficult to turn the Taliban or Haqqani network back on long-term allies.
“So far, we think these were terrorists – they are in bed with al-Qaeda,” he said. “Now if you are telling me that they will take part in the fight against terrorism, please tell me who the terrorist is?”
Extras by Amy Kazmin and Benjamin Parkin in New Delhi