Feared Afghan insurgent has died, Taliban says
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 yesterday.
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 (R75.9m) US bounty on his head.
Defence Ministry spokesperson Mohammad Radmanish said his 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.
“Operationally, his death will not have an impact on the group,” he said, adding that Haqqani’s role in recent years had been ideological, rather than practical.
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.
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 last June’s unprecedented ceasefire, 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.
Haqqani’s death has been reported a number of times over recent years, although never confirmed, but he is not believed to have held any operational role for some time.
“Haqqani was quite old and suffering from different health problems. He had handed over the network to his eldest son, Sirajuddin Haqqani and his other sons,” said a Taliban source close to the Haqqani family.
Haqqani had been ill and bedridden for several years but remained an inspiration for the Taliban, the movement said. “If Haqqani Sahib has departed (from) us physically, his ideology and methodology continue to endure,” it said.
US and Afghan officials have said the group, based in Pakistan’s region of North Waziristan and considered close to al-Qaeda, operated with the support of Pakistani intelligence services.