On November 11th a man known as Nasiruddin Haqqani was gunned down in Islamabad, Pakistan. The shooting occurred in a residential area called Bhara Kahu, which is only about two miles from the U. S. Embassy.
Nasiruddin was a financier and an emissary of the Haqqani Network, an Islamist insurgency group that uses asymmetric warfare against NATO forces in Afghanistan. The Haqquani Network is led by Jalaluddin Haqqani and his son Sirajuddin. Nasiruddin was the brother of Sirajudden.
The Network originated in Afghanistan in the 1970s and was supported by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), during the Soviet occupation of that country. Its values are Islamic and nationalistic, and its goal is to re-establish Sharia law and eradicate all western influence in Afghanistan.
I find it ironic that during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan that the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence Agency allowed the Haqqani organization to become a main benefactor of American weapons, intelligence and training. Once again the United States government armed, and trained an organization that would eventually become our enemy. It seems our government keeps making the same mistake over and over again.
Jalaluddin Haqqani commanded the Mujahideen Army from 1982 to 1992, and recruited foreign fighters. One well known foreign jihadist was Osama bin Laden, who began his career as a volunteer for the Haqqani’s. Thus, Al-Qa’ida and the Haqqani Network evolved together and remain intertwined. The main difference between the two groups is Al-Qa’ida’s goals are worldwide and Haqqani is only interested in Afghanistan and the Pastun Tribal regions.
After the Taliban gained control of Afghanistan in 1996, Jalaluddin Haqqani accepted a cabinet level appointment as Minister of Tribal Affairs, but after the Taliban government was overthrown in 2001, the Haqqanis fled to the Pakistani tribal regions. There they regrouped and began fighting coalition forces across the border in Afghanistan.
The U.S. military now considers Sirajuddin Haqqani the leader of the network and the United States is offering a reward of $5,000,000 for his capture. He has also been placed on the capture or kill list, so I imagine he has gone deeper into hiding. The United States killed his younger brother, Badruddin, in August 2012. This was followed by the killing of Sangeen Zadran, Sirajudding’s senior lieutenant, in September of this year. Zadran was one of those who captured U.S. soldier Bowe Bergdahl.
Who killed Sirajuddin’s brother, Nasiruddin, on November 11th? No one has claimed responsibility, but I imagine that the CIA had a hand in the killing.
Quote for the Week: “Money is the best bait when you go a-fishing for men.”----Unknown.
