Sirajuddin Haqqani

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Sirajuddin Haqqani
سِراج الدّين حقاني
Image of interview with sirajuddin-haqqani.jpg
Undated photograph of Haqqani being interviewed
Minister of Interior Affairs
Incumbent
Assumed office
7 September 2021
Prime MinisterMohammad Hassan Akhund
LeaderHibatullah Akhundzada
Preceded byIbrahim Sadr
Personal details
Bornc. 1973 to 1980
Afghanistan or Pakistan
NationalityAfghan
Political partyTaliban
RelationsJalaluddin Haqqani (father)
Khalil Haqqani (uncle)
Anas Haqqani (brother)
Military service
AllegianceAfghanistan Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan
Branch/service Haqqani network
Years of service2000s to present
RankDeputy Taliban millitary leader.[1]
Battles/warsWar on Terror
Afghan Civil War (1996–2001)
War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
Taliban insurgency
2021 Taliban offensive[2]

Sirajuddin Haqqani (Pashto/Arabic: سراج الدين حقاني‎, Pashto pronunciation: [sɪrɑd͡ʒʊˈdin haqɑˈni]; aliases Khalifa, and, Siraj Haqqani. born c. 1973 to 1980[3][4]) is the current Afghan Minister of Interior and one of the two deputies of Taliban supreme commander, Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhundzada.[5][1] He is also the leader of the Haqqani network, a sub-set of the Taliban organisation, and a scion of the Haqqani clan.[6][7][8][9] As deputy leader of the Taliban, he oversaw armed combat against American and coalition forces, reportedly from a base within North Waziristan District in Pakistan.

Haqqani is currently wanted by the FBI for questioning, with the U.S. State Department offering a reward of $10 million for information about his location that will lead to his arrest.[10][11]

Early life[]

Sirajuddin Haqqani is a son of Jalaluddin Haqqani, a Pashtun mujahid and military leader of pro-Taliban forces in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and his Arab wife from the United Arab Emirates[12] (Jalaluddin Haqqani also had a Pashtun wife). Sirajuddin has brothers from both of his father's wives.[13] He spent his childhood in Miramshah, North Waziristan, Pakistan, and attended Darul Uloom Haqqania Deobandi Islamic seminary in Akora Khattak, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. His younger brother Mohammad Haqqani, also a member of the network, died in a drone attack on February 18, 2010, in Dande Darpakhel, a village in North Waziristan.[14]

The Arabic of the English translation of Sirajuddin is سراج الدين‎. According to one source, which provides the translation within Urdu, the name has the meaning light of the religion.[15] The name Siraj, converted to Arabic, is سِرَاج‎, which similarly has the meaning of any object which produces light, or light itself, i.e. a cresset, lamp, a candle, or again, light itself, and accordingly, the Sun. Siraj is a Quranic name, in that it is used four times within the Quran, and the word is also used to describe Prophet Mohammad.[16][17]

The name "Haqqani" was taken from the Darul Uloom Haqqania, attended by many leading figures of the Haqqani network. Many prominent positions in the Pakistani and Afghan wings of the Taliban organization have also been held by graduates of the seminary.[18][19]

Activities[]

Haqqani has admitted planning the January 14, 2008 attack against the Serena Hotel in Kabul that killed six people, including American citizen Thor David Hesla.[11] Haqqani confessed his organization and direction of the planning of an attempt to assassinate Hamid Karzai, planned for April 2008.[7][11] His forces have been accused by coalition forces of carrying out the late December 2008 bombing in Kabul at a barracks near an elementary school that killed several schoolchildren, an Afghan soldier, and an Afghan guard; no coalition personnel were affected.[citation needed]

In November 2008 New York Times reporter David S. Rohde was kidnapped in Afghanistan. His initial captors are believed to have been solely interested in a ransom. Sirajuddin Haqqani is reported to have been Rohde's last captor prior to his escape.[20]

Several reports indicated that Haqqani was targeted in a massive U.S. drone attack on February 2, 2010,[21] but that he was not present in the area affected by the attack.[22]

In March 2010, Haqqani was described as one of the leaders on the "Taliban's Quetta Shura".[23] Sirajuddin Haqqani's deputy, Sangeen Zadran, was killed by a US drone strike on 5 September 2013.[24]

By as early as 2008,[19] but certainly by 2016, Jalaluddin Haqqani, due to illness,[25] had turned over control of the Haqqani network to his son, Sirajuddin Haqqani.[26][27] As such Sirajuddin Haqqani served as a deputy to Taliban head Mawlawi Hibatullah, and was primarily involved in military affairs.[28]

On May 31, 2020, British Taliban expert Antonio Guistozzi told Foreign Policy that Sirajuddin Haqqani was infected with COVID-19, which resulted in him being absent from the group's leadership mix.[29]

After the Taliban retook control of the country, he was appointed as Minister of Interior of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, on 7 September 2021.[30]

Writings[]

When Akhtar Mansour was elected as the new leader of the Taliban in 2015, a communication was posted quoting Sirajuddin Haqqani:[31]

...My particular recommendation to all members of the Islamic Emirate is to maintain their internal unity and discipline...

Sirajuddin Haqqani wrote an opinion piece titled "What We, the Taliban, Want", which appeared in the New York Times on February 20, 2020, sparking a controversy that terrorists were given the opportunity to write articles.

In 2010, Haqqani released a 144-page Pashto-language book, a training manual entitled Military Lessons for the Benefit of the Mujahedeen, where he appears more radical than the Talibans, as it shows influences from al-Qaida, supporting beheading and suicide bombings while legitimizing targeting the West, asking Muslims there to "blend in, shave, wear Western dress, be patient."[32]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b "Mullah Omar: Taliban choose deputy Mansour as successor". BBC News. 31 July 2015. Archived from the original on 17 August 2016. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
  2. ^ Joscelyn, Thomas (25 June 2021). "Taliban's deputy emir issues guidance for governance in newly seized territory". FDD's Long War Journal. Archived from the original on 19 July 2021. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
  3. ^ "Sirajuddin Haqqani". Archived from the original on 28 August 2018. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  4. ^ "Wanted: Sirajuddun Haqqani". Rewards for Justice. Archived from the original on 26 August 2014.
  5. ^ "Afghan Taliban announce successor to Mullah Mansour". BBC News. 25 May 2016. Archived from the original on 18 April 2018. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
  6. ^ Islamabad Boys Archived 14 February 2010 at the Wayback Machine, The New Republic, 27 January 2010
  7. ^ Jump up to: a b The National Counter-Terrorism Centre. Profile. published by The National Counter-Terrorism Centre. Archived from the original on 12 October 2014. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
  8. ^ Hayes, Edward (Retired Army Intelligence Officer (23 August 2015). "Counter Terror: The Ghost Death of Mullah Omar and Crisis: Mansour versus Caliph al-Baghdadi". Counter Terrorism Lectures and Consulting. Archived from the original on 14 October 2017.
  9. ^ Mehsud, Saleem (23 October 2015). "Kunduz Breakthrough Bolsters Mullah Mansoor as Taliban Leader". CTC Sentinel. Vol. 8 no. 10. Combating Terrorism Centre of Westpoint. Archived from the original on 17 November 2015.
  10. ^ Fink, Jenni (7 September 2021). "Sirajuddin Haqqani, Afghanistan Cabinet Member, Wanted by FBI, $10 Million Reward Offered". Newsweek.
  11. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Wanted: Sirajuddun Haqqani". Retrieved 28 August 2021.
  12. ^ Anwar, Madeeha; Zahid, Noor (1 June 2017). "What Is the Haqqani Network?". Extremism Watch. Voice of America. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  13. ^ Dressler, Jeffrey A. (2010). The Haqqani Network: From Pakistan to Afghanistan (PDF). Afghanistan Report 6. Washington, DC: Institute for the Study of War. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
  14. ^ Shah, Pir Zubair (19 February 2010). "Missile Kills Militant Commander's Brother in Pakistan". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 22 February 2010. Retrieved 19 February 2010.
  15. ^ "Sirajuddin Meaning in Urdu - سراج الدین Meaning". All Islamic Names & Muslim Baby Names. One Pakistan. Archived from the original on 3 June 2016.
  16. ^ "Siraj: A Quranic Name for Boys and Girls". Quranic Names. Archived from the original on 23 November 2015.
  17. ^ "Siraj Meaning in Urdu - سراج Meaning". All Islamic Names & Muslim Baby Names. One Pakistan. Archived from the original on 3 June 2016.
  18. ^ "Haqqani Militants Act Like Pakistan's Protected Partners". The New York Times. 7 September 2021.
  19. ^ Jump up to: a b "Haqqani Network". Mapping Militant Organizations. Stanford University. 8 November 2017.
  20. ^ Matthew Cole (22 June 2009). "The David Rohde Puzzle". New York. Archived from the original on 26 June 2009. Retrieved 1 July 2009.
  21. ^ Shahzad, Syed Saleem (5 February 2010). "US fires off new warning in Pakistan". Asia Times Online. Archived from the original on 7 February 2010. Retrieved 4 February 2010.CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  22. ^ "Sources: Drone strikes kill 29 in Pakistan". CNN. 2 February 2010. Archived from the original on 3 February 2010. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
  23. ^ Amir Mir (1 March 2010). "Pakistan wipes out half of Quetta Shura". The News International. Archived from the original on 4 March 2010. Retrieved 4 March 2010. The remaining nine members of the Quetta Shura who are still at large are believed to be Mullah Hassan Rehmani, the former governor of Kandahar province in Taliban regime; Hafiz Abdul Majeed, the former chief of the Afghan Intelligence and the surge commander of the Taliban in southern Afghanistan; Amir Khan Muttaqi, a former minister in Taliban regime; Agha Jan Mutasim, the Taliban’s head of political affairs; Mullah Abdul Jalil, the head of the Taliban’s shadowy interior ministry, Sirajuddin Haqqani, the son of Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani and the commander of the Haqqani militant network; Mullah Abdul Latif Mansoor, the commander of the Mansoor network in Paktika and Khost; Mullah Abdur Razaq Akhundzada, the former corps commander for northern Afghanistan; and Abdullah Mutmain, a former minister during the Taliban regime who currently looks after the financial affairs of the extremist militia.
  24. ^ Rehman, Zia Ur (13 September 2013) 'A great blow' Archived 2019-02-03 at the Wayback Machine thefridaytimes.com
  25. ^ Tanzeem, Ayesha (4 September 2018). "Haqqani Network Founder Dies After Long Illness". Voice of America (VoA). Archived from the original on 26 October 2019.
  26. ^ "Afghanistan: Who's who in the Taliban leadership: 3. Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani". BBC News. 8 September 2021.
  27. ^ Graham-Harrison, Emma (4 September 2018). "Leader of Haqqani network in Afghanistan is dead, say Taliban". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 4 September 2018.
  28. ^ Azami, Dawood (26 May 2016). "Mawlawi Hibatullah: Taliban's new leader signals continuity". BBC News. Archived from the original on 28 May 2016. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
  29. ^ "Taliban Leadership in Disarray on Verge of Peace Talks". Foreign Policy. Archived from the original on 7 June 2020. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  30. ^ "Taliban announce new government for Afghanistan". BBC News. 7 September 2021. Archived from the original on 7 September 2021. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
  31. ^ "Taliban power struggle breaks out in wake of news of Mullah Omar's death". The Chicago Tribune. 2 August 2015. Archived from the original on 21 November 2015. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
  32. ^ Abubakar Siddique, The Pashtun Question: The Unresolved Key to the Future of Pakistan and Afghanistan, Hurst, 2014, p. 173

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