Sirajuddin Haqqani

Sirajuddin Haqqani
سراج الدين حقاني

A picture of Haqqani.
Born c. 1973, 1977, or 1978
Afghanistan
Allegiance Haqqani network, Mujahideen
Years of service 2000's to present
Battles/wars

War on Terror:
Relations Jalaluddin Haqqani (father)

Sirajuddin "Siraj" Haqqani (alias "Khalifa" born c. 1973[1] or 1977/78[2]) is a Pashtun warlord and military leader who fights against American and coalition forces from his base within North Waziristan in Pakistan, where it is claimed he provides shelter to Al Qaeda operatives.[3] His father is Jalaluddin Haqqani, a famous mujahideen and military leader of pro-Taliban forces in Afghanistan and Pakistan. His forces have been accused by the coalition forces of carrying out the late-December 2008 bombing in Kabul, Afghanistan at an Afghan elementary school near an Afghan barracks that killed several schoolchildren, an Afghan soldier, and an Afghan guard; no coalition or US personnel were affected.

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, as well as having planned the April 2008 assassination attempt on Afghan President Hamid Karzai.[1]

In November 2008, New York Times reporter David S. Rohde was captured in Afghanistan.[4] His initial captors are believed to have been solely interested in a ransom. Sirajuddin Haqqani is reported to have been his last captor prior to his escape.[4] The U.S. government's Rewards for Justice Program is offering up to US$5 million in reward for information leading to Sirajuddin Haqqani's capture.[1]

Several reports indicated that Haqqani was targeted in a massive U.S. drone attack on February 2, 2010,[5] but that he was not in the area affected.[6] He was again targeted in a drone attack in Dande Darpakhel on February 18, which instead killed his younger brother Mohammad Haqqani.[7]

In March 2010 he was described as one of the leaders on the "Taliban's Quetta Shura".[8]

In 2011, the CIA disclosed that they had an opportunity to assassinate Siraj but backed off due to women and children being nearby.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Wanted: Sirajuddun Haqqani". Rewards for Justice. http://www.rewardsforjustice.net/index.cfm?page=haqqani. Retrieved 2010-02-04. 
  2. ^ "HAQQANI, Sirajuddin Jallaloudine". Interpol. http://www.interpol.int/public/Data/NoticesUN/Notices/Data/2007/00/2007_44300.asp. Retrieved 2010-02-19. 
  3. ^ Islamabad Boys, The New Republic, 27 January 2010
  4. ^ a b Matthew Cole (2009-06-22). "The David Rohde Puzzle". New York Magazine. http://nymag.com/news/media/57635/index1.html. Retrieved 2009-07-01. 
  5. ^ Shahzad, Syed Saleem (2010-02-05). "US fires off new warning in Pakistan". Asia Times Online. http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/LB05Df01.html. Retrieved 2010-02-04. 
  6. ^ "Sources: Drone strikes kill 29 in Pakistan". CNN. 2010-02-02. http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/02/02/pakistan.drone.strike/index.html. Retrieved 2010-02-02. 
  7. ^ Shah, Pir Zubair (2010-02-19). "Missile Kills Militant Commander’s Brother in Pakistan". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/20/world/asia/20pstan.html?hp. Retrieved 2010-02-19. 
  8. ^ Amir Mir (2010-03-01). "Pakistan wipes out half of Quetta Shura". The News International. Archived from the original on 2010-03-04. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenews.com.pk%2Ftop_story_detail.asp%3FId%3D27544&date=2010-03-04. "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." 
  9. ^ . http://in.news.yahoo.com/us-aborted-drone-attack-sirajuddin-haqqani-pak-over-20110223-040813-471.html. 

External links