CIA created Haqqani network: Rehman Malik

ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Rehman Malik on Sunday said that Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the United States not Pakistan created the Haqqani network and trained its members.
Talking to media representatives at a ceremony here, Malik said that the Haqqani network was present in Afghanistan and those claiming otherwise should provide evidence of its presence in Pakistan.
“We will fight the terrorists as our forces are capable of handling them and countering any challenge,” the minister said.
He said Pakistan never blamed the CIA or Afghanistan directly over various attacks in Mohmand Agency or other areas.
Malik stressed for a strong immigration system at the Pak-Afghan border and urged the international community not to forget the sacrifices of Pakistan in the fight against terrorism.
“Pakistan has so far suffered a loss of $ 68 billion in fighting terrorism,” he added.
He said that the on-going operation in Karachi was successful because of coordination among Rangers, Police and Frontier Constabularly.
He told the media that Islamabad Police had foiled a bid to smuggle a huge cache of heavy arms including six mini machine guns, 14 Kalashnikovs from a vehicle near Motorway Interchange.
Earlier, the IGP Islamabad briefed the minister

Pak PM Gilani recalls foreign minister Khar from US

Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Sunday called back foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar from the US amid strained ties with Washington following an accusation that Pakistan was supporting the Haqqani terror network.
Khar was called back for consultations over the related stories
Pakistani commanders meet after US criticism
strained relationship between Pakistan and the US, Online news agency quoted sources as saying.

US military commanders have accused Pakistan's spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), of supporting the Haqqani network for carrying out two attacks on the US embassy in Kabul and US military base in Afghanistan's Wadak province this month.

Gilani also called an all-party conference to build consensus on Pakistan's stance over the US threats. Khar will attend the conference to brief the political parties over Islamabad's ties with Washington.

The Prime Minister also called up President Asif Ali Zardari and took him into confidence regarding the developments.

He also telephonically discussed with different political parties the situation arising out of US accusing Pakistan of supporting Haqqani network.

Gilani spoke to Sheikh Rasheed of the Awami Muslim League, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain of the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid, Nawaz Sharif of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and Altaf Hussain of the Muttahid Quami Movement, the Nation quoted sources as saying.

Ties between Washington and Islamabad have been strained after the May 2 killing of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad.

They dipped further when the chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, on Thursday accused the Pakistani government of supporting the al Qaeda-linked Haqqani network.

Mullen called the Haqqani network a "veritable arm" of Pakistan's ISI, the country's spy agency, as he testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee on the US strategy in Afghanistan and Iraq.

He said the ISI supported Haqqani network was behind recent attacks in Afghanistan including the Sep 11 truck bomb attack and the Sep 13 assault on the US embassy in Kabul.

Mullen said the Pakistani government's link to the extremist group would undermine the already troubled US-Pakistani relationship as well as the US-led counterterrorism campaign in Afghanistan.

Pakistan, however, dismissed US accusations that the ISI is using the Haqqani network for a proxy war in neighbouring Afghanistan.

Haqqani network backed by ISI: US think-tank

Washington: The Haqqani network, which is blamed for the recent attack on American embassy in Kabul, receives protection and support from the Pakistani spy agency ISI, an influential think-tank has told US lawmakers.
"They receive protection and support from facets of Pakistan's intelligence agency ISI, which continues to drag its feet on taking action against the Haqqanis because they see the network as a useful proxy to expand their influence and establish footholds in Afghanistan," said Frank J Cilluffo, Director of the Homeland Security Policy Institute at the George Washington University.
"Because the Haqqani network is seen by parts of Pakistan's government as a valuable ally, the government has refused to take action in the tribal regions of Waziristan which creates safe havens, not only for the Haqqanis but for al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups, with which the Haqqanis are intimately involved," Cilluffo told lawmakers at a Congressional hearing last week.
Noting that the network poses a significant threat to US and India, he observed that "strangely, and inadvisably" it has not been designated a foreign terrorist group.
It is believed that the group is a powerful insurgent force in Afghanistan, one that targets coalition forces as well as Indian investments and interests in the country, he said.
Siraj Haqqani, the son of the famous anti-Soviet fighter Jalaluddin Haqqani, is the current leader of the network. The group originated in the 1970s and has formed significant ties with al-Qaeda and Taliban in the years since its inception.
Today, it is operationally based in North Waziristan, the remote border region between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Cilluffo said Lashkar-e-Taiba too receives support from the Pakistani establishment.
"Before the United States can take actions to assume a lighter footprint (especially in Afghanistan), it is paramount that we hold Pakistan accountable to take action against the extremist forces festering under their watch," he said.
"The litmus test here is whether Pakistan will sever its historic ties to its proxies, namely LeT in India and the Haqqani Network in Afghanistan. While we acknowledge the fact that there are some factions in Pakistan that will never cut these ties, we must also realize that some in Pakistan recognize the threat these groups pose," he said.
"Those individuals are motivated to cooperate with the US, and we should continue to do all we reasonably can to encourage and support their efforts. This is not only in the best interests of the US and India, but also of Pakistan," Cilluffo added.

Key senator says Haqqani should be on terror list

 

WASHINGTON — A top US senator pressed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday to add the militant Haqqani network to a formal terrorism blacklist, citing recent attacks in Afghanistan.
"I request that the State Department take the additional step of listing the network as a Foreign Terrorism Organization and look forward to receiving your response," said Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein.
Feinstein, a Democrat, said "there is no question that the Haqqani network meets the standards" for joining the list.
"It conducts attacks against US targets and personnel in Afghanistan, and poses a continuing threat to American, Afghan, and allied personnel and interests," she said in a statement.
Her comments came after the top US military officer, Admiral Mike Mullen, charged that the Haqqani network "acts as a veritable arm of Pakistan?s Inter-Services Intelligence agency."
Washington blames Haqqani militants for an assault on the US embassy in Kabul last week, a June attack on the Inter-Continental Hotel in Kabul, and a bloody September 10 truck bombing in Afghanistan's Wardak province.
The Haqqani network is probably the most dangerous faction in the Afghan Taliban. A CIA asset turned Al-Qaeda ally, the United States in the 1980s funneled arms and cash to the Haqqani faction to counter Soviet forces.

Haqqani network

The Haqqani Network is an independent insurgent group originating in Afghanistan that is closely allied with the Taliban.[2] Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani along with his son Sirajuddin Haqqani lead the Haqqani network, which is based in the Afghanistan–Pakistan border areas. According to US military commanders it is "the most resilient enemy network [in Afghanistan]"[3] and one of the biggest threats to NATO and United States forces in Afghanistan. [4] Some notable US officials have alleged that Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) service has been enabling the network.[5]
BackgroundMaulvi Haqqani rose to prominence and was recognized as a senior military leader during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. He is thought to have even visited the White House during the presidency of Ronald Reagan.[6] Like Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, Haqqani was more successful than other resistance leaders at forging relationships with outsiders prepared to sponsor resistance to the Soviets, including the CIA, Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), and wealthy Arab private donors from the Persian Gulf. In the late 1980's, Haqqani had the CIA's full support.[7] Foreign jihadists recognized the network as a distinct entity as early as 1994, but Haqqani was not affiliated with the Taliban until they captured Kabul and assumed de facto control of Afghanistan in 1996.[8][9] After the Taliban took de facto control of Afghanistan, Haqqani accepted a cabinet level appointment from the Taliban as Minister of Tribal Affairs. [10] As Jalaluddin has grown older his son Sirajuddin has taken over the responsibility of military operations. [4] It is reported that President Hamid Karzai believed it was possible that Haqqani could be tempted to abandon the Taliban, and had invited him to serve as Prime Minister

 Leadership

• Manik Haqqani - Hides in Mumbai and poses as a cricket magazine editor. Activities
• Jalaluddin Haqqani
• Sirajuddin Haqqani
• Badaruddin Haqqani - younger brother of Sirajuddin[11]
• Sangeen Zadran - According the US State Department, he is a senior lieutenant to Sirajuddin and the shadow governor for Paktika province in Afghanistan.[11][12][13]
• Nasiruddin Haqqani[11]

The Christian Science Monitor, citing unnamed US and Afghan sources, reported in June 2009 that the leadership is based in Miranshah, North Waziristan in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan along the Afghan border[2] In September 2011, Sirajuddin Haqqani told Reuters that the group feels "more secure in Afghanistan besides the Afghan people."[16] Haqqani is reported[by whom?] to run his own training camps, to recruit his own foreign fighters, and to seek out financial and logistic support on his own, from his old contacts.[4] The network is active in Afghanistan's southeastern areas of Paktia Province, Paktika Province, Khost Province, Logar Province, and Ghazni Province.[2]

Estimates of the Haqqanis's numbers vary. A 2009 New York Times article indicates that they are thought to have about 4,000 to 12,000 Taliban under their command while a 2011 report from the Combating Terrorism Center places its strength roughly at 10,000-15,000.[17][9] During a September 2011 interview, Sirajuddin Haqqani said the figure of 10,000 fighters, as quoted in some media reports, "is actually less than the actual number."[16] Throughout its history the network's operations have been conducted by small, semi-autonomous units organized according to tribal and sub-tribal affiliations often at the direction of and with the logistical support of Haqqani commanders.[9]
The Haqqani network pioneered the use of suicide attacks in Afghanistan and tend to use mostly foreign bombers whereas the Taliban tend to rely on locals in attacks.[2] It makes money by extortion, kidnappings and other crime in eastern provinces of Afghanistan.[citation needed] According to a tribal elder in Paktia "Haqqani's people ask for money from contractors working on road construction. They are asking money or goods from shopkeepers, District elders and contractors are paying money to Afghan workers, but sometimes half of the money will go to Haqqani's people."[6] The network, according to the National Journal, supplies much of the potassium chlorate used in bombs employed by the Taliban in Afghanistan. Also, the network's bombs use more sophisticated remote triggering devices than the pressure-plated activators used elsewhere in Afghanistan. Sirajuddin Haqqani told MSNBC in April 2009 that his fighters had, "acquired the modern technology that we were lacking, and we have mastered new and innovative methods of making bombs and explosives."[18]
Attacks and alleged attacks
January 14, 2008: 2008 Kabul Serena Hotel attack is thought[by whom?] to have been carried out by the network.[4]
March, 2008: Kidnapping of British journalist Sean Langan was blamed on the network.[19]
April 27, 2008: Assassination attempts on Hamid Karzai.[2][not in citation given]
July 7, 2008: US intelligence blamed the network for 2008 Indian embassy bombing in Kabul.[20]
November 10, 2008: The Kidnapping of David Rohde was blamed on Sirajuddin Haqqani.[21]
December 30, 2009: Camp Chapman attack is thought[by whom?] to have been carried out by the network.[22]
May 18, 2010: May 2010 Kabul bombing was allegedly[by whom?] carried out by the network.[23]
February 19, 2011: Kabul Bank in Jalalabad, Afghanistan.[24][not in citation given]
June 28, 2011: According to ISAF, elements of the Haqqani network provided "material support" in the 2011 attack on the Hotel Inter-Contential in Kabul.[25] The Taliban claimed responsibility.[26]
The Pentagon blamed the network for the September 10, 2011 attack: A massive truck bomb explodes outside Combat Outpost Sayed Abad in Wardak province, Afghanistan, killing five Afghans, including four civilians, and wounding 77 U.S. soldiers, 14 Afghan civilians, and three policemen.[27]
US Ambassador Ryan Crocker blamed the Haqqani network for a September 12, 2011 attack on the US Embassy and nearby NATO bases in Kabul. The attack lasted 19 hours and resulted in the deaths of four police officers and four civilians. 17 civilians and six NATO soldiers were injured. Three coalition soldiers were killed. Eleven insurgent attackers were killed.[28]
 links with Pakistan
Anti-American groups of Gul Bahadur and Haqqani carry out their activities in Afghanistan and use North Waziristan as rear.[29] The network allegedly maintains old links with the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Pakistan's army has been reportedly reluctant to move against them.[4][30] The ISI had links with the Haqqanis since the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and provided funds and assistance to the group during the Afghan resistance. While Pakistan has declared the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) as an enemy which engages in attacks against civilians and the state, the Haqqani group refrains from attacking the Pakistani state and thus, has traditionally been considered to be in the Pakistani sphere of what some anaylists call the "good" Taliban.[31]
The New York Times reported in September 2008 that Pakistan regards the Haqqani's as an important force for protecting its interests in Afghanistan in the event of American withdrawal from there and therefore have been unwilling to move against them.[30] The same newspaper and Al Jazeera later reported in June 2010 that Pakistan's Army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and chief of the ISI General Ahmad Shuja Pasha were in talks with Afghan president Hamid Karzai to broker a power-sharing agreement between the Haqqani network and the Afghan government.[32][33] Reacting to this report both President Barack Obama and CIA director Leon Panetta responded with skepticism that such an effort could succeed.[34] The effort to mediate between the Haqqanis and the Afghan government was launched by Pakistan after intense pressure by the US to take military action against the group in North Waziristan.[35] Hamid Karzai later denied meeting anyone from the Haqqani network.[36] Subsequently Kayani also denied that he took part in these talks.[37]
According to a July 2011 report published by West Point's Combating Terrorism Center, the network acts as a key facilitator of negotiations between the Pakistani government and the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan and as the "primary conduit" of many Pakistani Taliban fighters into Afghanistan.[9]
In September 2011, Sirajuddin Haqqani claimed during a telephonic interview to Reuters that the Haqqani network no longer maintained sanctuaries in northwest Pakistan and the robust presence that it once had there and instead now felt more safer in Afghanistan: "Gone are the days when we were hiding in the mountains along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. Now we consider ourselves more secure in Afghanistan besides the Afghan people."[16] According to Haqqani, there were "senior military and police officials" who are aligned with the group and there are even sympathetic and "sincere people in the Afghan government who are loyal to the Taliban" who support the group's aim of liberating Afghanistan "from the clutches of occupying forces."[16]
The group's links to Pakistan have been a sour point in Pakistan – United States relations. In September 2011 the Obama administration warned Pakistan that it must do more to cut ties with the Haqqani network and help eliminate its leaders, adding that "the United States will act unilaterally if Pakistan does not comply."[38] In testimony before a US Senate panel, Admiral Mike Mullen stated that the network "acts as a veritable arm of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence Agency."[5] Pakistan in return rejected the notion that it maintained ties with the Haqqani network or used it in a policy of waging a proxy war in neighboring Afghanistan; the Pakistani interior minister also warned that any incursion on Pakistani territory by U.S. forces will not be tolerated. A Pakistani intelligence official insisted that the American allegations are part of "pressure tactics" used by the United States as a strategy "to shift the war theatre."[39] 


                      
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