WASHINGTON: The Obama administration is considering placing the Haqqani network on its list of terror groups after blaming the militants for deadly attacks in Afghanistan, a US official said Monday.
Seven leaders of the Haqqani network, which operates from safe havens in Pakistan and was founded by former CIA asset Jalaluddin Haqqani and is run by his son Sirajuddin, have been placed under US sanctions since 2008.
The top US military officer, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen, directly accused Pakistan's intelligence service on Thursday of supporting the Haqqani network's attack on the US embassy in Kabul, a truck bombing on a Nato outpost and a June attack on Kabul's InterContinental hotel.
Sangeen Zadran, Sirajuddin and Badruddin Haqqani have been designated by the State Department, while the Treasury has targeted four other Haqqani leaders: Nasiruddin Haqqani, Khalil Haqqani, Ahmed Jan Wazir and Fazl Rabi.
“Certainly FTO (foreign terrorist organization) designation is something under review,” State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters.
“But the idea that we haven't gone after the Haqqani Network at all I think is a mischaracterization.”
Washington has asked Islamabad to launch on offensive in the restive tribal region of North Waziristan, a Haqqani bastion bordering Afghanistan.
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