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Jalaluddin Haqqani is dead, say Taliban sources
PESHAWAR: Chief of the Haqqani militant network and father of Sirajuddin Haqqani, Jaluluddin Haqqani, died almost a year ago of natural causes and was buried in Afghan province of Khost, according to reliable sources among the Afghan Taliban.
While news of Jalaluddin Haqqani's death had been making rounds for almost a month now, multiple credible sources in Taliban confirmed today that he had died of illness almost a year ago.
Read: Son of Jalaluddin Haqqani captured in Afghanistan
The militant group has not officially given out a statement over Haqqani's demise yet.
Sources, however, say Sirajudin Haqqani, Jalaluddin's son, has been running the militant network for over a year now, ever since his father's illness.
News of Jalaluddin’s death comes a mere two days after the announced death of Afghan Taliban’s supreme leader, Mullah Omar.
The news of Mullah Omar’s death was first leaked through unnamed sources in Kabul on Wednesday and the Afghan intelligence and government soon after followed in with a confirmation.
The acknowledgment by the Taliban of their chief's death on Thursday was the first time the militant group has confirmed the death of their supremo even though reports about his demise surfaced in the past as well.
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| Jalaluddin Haqqani. – DawnNews screengrab |
Sirajuddin Haqqani appointed as operational commander
In an attempt to lower rising tensions within the Afghan Taliban after the appointment of a new chief, the Taliban Shura has appointed Sirajuddin Haqqani as the operational commander of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (as referred to by Afghan Taliban).
Rifts began to emerge after Mullah Akhtar Mansoor was appointed the new supreme leader of the Afghan Taliban following the announced death of Mullah Omar, after which the Taliban Shura decided to make some changes in the organisation's hierarchy as part of its strategy to minimise differences among the leadership.
According to Taliban sources, the commander of Haqqani Network, Sirajuddin, in his new capacity, will decide on operational issues of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. Earlier, Sirajuddin had been appointed as the second-in-command of Mullah Mansoor.
Moreover, Maulvi Mohammad Yaqoob, the son of former Taliban chief Mullah Omar, has now been appointed as the naib ameer (deputy chief) of the Afghan Taliban.
Hayatullah, another important member of the Shura, has been appointed as the leader of the political wing. “His job would be to guide the Shura on political matters,” the sources added.
Taliban sources further revealed that these changes on key posts were made to cool down rising tensions which erupted after the news of Mullah Omar’s death surfaced on Wednesday.
The sources, however, said that the differences still persist.
Read more: Cables detail Saudi diplomat’s meeting with Haqqani’s son
The Haqqani network was founded by Jalaluddin Haqqani — an Afghan guerrilla leader bankrolled by the United States — to fight Soviet troops in Afghanistan in the 1980s.
In the 1980s, Jalaluddin was close to the CIA and Pakistani intelligence. He allied himself to the Taliban after they took power in Kabul in 1996, serving as a cabinet minister under the militia's supreme leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar.
When American troops arrived after the 9/11 attacks, Haqqani sought refuge in Pakistan's tribal district of North Waziristan and became one of the first anti-US commanders based in the border areas.
Jalaluddin had set up a base in North Waziristan following the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001, under which he was the minister for border affairs.
He used his North Waziristan base to direct the Haqqani network’s operations. The group is accused of being behind some of the deadliest attacks in Afghanistan.
He reportedly had training bases in eastern Afghanistan and was close to Al-Qaeda. His fighters are known to be active across east and southeast Afghanistan and in the capital Kabul.
The network is militarily the most capable of the Afghan Taliban factions and operates independently but remains loyal to Mullah Omar.
Unidentified gunmen attacked and killed Nasiruddin Haqqani, the group's chief fundraiser and another son of its founder, on the edge of Islamabad in 2013.
Due to his ailment, the militant ‘commander’ had handed over operational command of the Haqqani network to his son, Sirajuddin.
Further reading: Pakistan's top militant commanders
Jalaluddin was also on the UN Sanctions list since January 31, 2001. The provisions of the UNSC resolutions 1267 (1999), and 1333 (2000) applied to him, which, among other things, bar the international travel of listed individuals and prevent any assistance to them.
Comments (38) Closed
is Baghdadi alive?
So many good news in these days..Mashallah..
It is very interesting all of a sudden lots of these leaders are now dead for quite sometime; makes me wonder.
Siraj, his son, is now the depty head of overall Taliban movement. Haqqanis are now more powerful then ever.
I wish Baghdadi to be next..
i wonder who else will be declared dead for years tomorrow.
Something is fishy here. Timing is exceedingly imperative to "leak" this waste extraordinarily when the second round of peace talks is about to happen in Pakistan. Obviously a few nations are not content with peace coming back to this locale.
The fact that he and Mullah Omer is dead is not of much significance, The timing is.
With IS getting an a dependable balance in the North Afghanistan and India has demonstrated its aim of utilizing IS as a part of the region, the divide within Afghan Talibans is terrible. Talibans are the power that can challenge the condemnation of IS. New, complex situations developing in the region.
Clearly an attempt to switch all the Taliban setups into self destruct mode.
Wow! sweeping changes taking place in the region. Old guards are all gone. Now is the time to take advantage of it so that stability and peace can come to the region. The only worry is IS. If they become the beneficiary of it then brace yourself. They are nobody's friends. They are treacherous and can change sides. The game is full on in the region.
All religious militants one day or the other were / are allied with foreign intelligence agencies.
They have no self respect and dignity...wonder how they have such following when it is known fact they are turncoats.
Sir, We have seen, every time USA puts large money for the death of a person. That person dies sooner or later and that is a miracle.
Pandora box is opening. Brace for more.
Good news..
Good news coming everyday!!!
Best wishes to JH. His father was a true freedom fighter who fought against USSR occupation. Talibans should join the peace process and bring harmony to Afghanistan.
Slowly slowly all Taliban leaders are dying. Time for them is finished. Now the peace will prevail.
So sad.. RIP
In the context of the peace talks the negotiators are asked for credible assurances, that's when they have to divulge that so and so is dead.
It's an old ottoman trick. When king died they carried on as all is well until the next king was crowned. The new Kong would announce the death of the old king.
It prevented power struggles and civil wars.
Any news of Fazlullah?
@shoaib: unfortunately yes... :-(
One dies, there is another to replace him.
Good news!!!
Seems like all the first generation leadership of Afghan Taliban is long dead. Their ghosts are running the movement now. Golden opportunity to forge Afghan unity.
I reminds me of a drug leader from Mexico whose death was announced after a botched plastic surgery. In fact, he had taken someone's else identity. If so many died, life should be getting better. However, if some more plan to die, it would even get best.
I wish all animals die who were behind Peshawar school massacre.
Dropping like dead flies.
the sooner these creeps disappear for good the better
The time for terror in Pakistan/Afghanistan region is over, all parties need to settle down, be integrated back into society or be wiped out. The writing is on the wall. Peace and prosperity for Pakistan and Afghanistan!
The head is dead. When are we taking care of the rest of Haqqanis and their like?
As the end game has begun we are hearing that the key commanders are dead. It is very hard to separate right from wrong these days.
Undoubtedly, he has been the most hated and pariah person, who was serving the interests and malicious agenda of the sworn external enemies of Afghanistan.
@Sunil Unfortunate but true.
Find him and execute him -don't trust rumours of his death until we have DNS proof
This is very intriguing that these news are surfacing at the same time. How can these events be kept secret for such a significant amount of time. Maybe, the Pak stake holders are really serious about making peace with Afghanistan. These revelations are going to put a lot of pressure on the Taliban. Pakistan, being a nuclear power, does not need strategic dept. If India can also cooperate with a sincere mind, the people of the whole region will benefit tremendously and finally help in eliminating the scourge of terrorism from the region.
@Ptolemy Agree. The whole world should get together and choke ISIS before it spreads any further. Remember Al Qaeda!! No one took them seriously in the beginning until they started bombing embassies and then 9/11, England and Spain.
@Kamal Pasha For every Taliban death, there is more than one Taliban taking birth from innumerable madrasas across Pakistan.
@I am MALALA .....What good news? These criminals have left behind a large progeny.
Dead Taliban are more dangerous than alive ones because they keep on fighting till some honest Government official discloses about the death. Mullah Omer, UBL (Al-Qaida leader)and Jalaludin Haqani are few among them. There are other Taliban who were reborn after their deaths just like Baithullah Mahsud. We believe in the death of UBL because US has confirmed throwing his dead body deep into the sea,may be with a purpose to prevent a holy tomb at his grave yard.