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Jalaluddin Haqqani with his son Nasrudin. |
Jihadica points to an interview with Jalaluddin Haqqani, the patriarch of the Haqqani family network, which is based in eastern Afghanistan and across the border in North Waziristan in Pakistan. Jalaluddin has a clever answer to a question on suicide attacks being plotted and launched from Pakistan, as Jihadica notes. It is certainly not a denial:
The latest issue of Nawai Afghan Jihad includes an interview with Jalaluddin Haqqani. The interview is centered on American policy in Afghanistan and the danger America poses to the world. Little mention is made of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan or the role of Pakistani extremists in Afghanistan.
To a question regarding the “propaganda unleashed by the Karzai government” that jihadi activity along Afghanistan’s border with Pakistan is planned and plotted in Pakistan, Haqqani gives a rather diplomatic response: “there are passionate young men from the tribal areas who have inherited the jihadi gusto of the past (fighting the British and Soviets) and who were martyred on Afghan soil. We acknowledge and appreciate their jihadi engagement.”
There are other items of interest in the interview. Jalaluddin is clear that for any talks to begin, US and NATO forces must leave the country: “The Emirate’s policies and terms with regards to dialogue are clear – the key one being that all occupying forces leave Afghanistan.”
And that statement in itself is interesting, as the Haqqanis are often viewed as being separate from the Quetta Shura Taliban, led by Mullah Omar. Jalaluddin is specifically referring to “The Emirate’s policies” as his own.
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4 Comments
Bill
First sentence, could it be Eastern Afghanistan rather than Pakistan…
Have a good Sunday!
“When we get into the position of stabilizing, then we can help the other side (the US),” said a senior Pakistani military officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to discuss the issue publicly. “There are limits of our power. You cannot be expected to use your force against all [militant] groups because then your power will be diluted. That’s exactly what’s happening on the other side [to the US in Afghanistan], they’re all over the place and virtually in control of nothing.”
It is simply hard to understand this and hard to absorb why does not the U.S. understand that its Afghan policy is ineffective without the inclusion of the main regional power of South Asia.
So is HAQ not part of the KARACHI SHURA? If so, is there a power struggle between HAQ and the KARACHI SHURA?
Bill, sometimes i really wish one didn’t have to look at the photographs of these guys. They are really as evil looking, as their countryside is beautiful.
The Haqqani’s can’t get captured no matter what U.S. pressure is applied. It would be preferred to rein in these Afghan Taliban through talks.
Plus these names of Shuras and etc are emphasized to such a great extent makes them sound so funny, as if these Shuras rule these cities.