One of the highest sums of money was paid to top Haqqani militants in Afghanistan by the US, including interior minister Sirajuddin Haqqani, the country’s interior minister.
Given that the Haqqani system is accused of carrying out some of the most famous and lethal assaults in Afghanistan during the US-led conflict, including those against NATO forces and the American and Indian offices, it is a major shift.
Following a bargain struck between the US and the Taliban during President Trump’s first name, the system is a significant component of the Taliban state, which has ruled Afghanistan since unusual forces withdrew from the state in 2021.
The decision to raise the bounty comes just weeks into President Trump’s subsequent term, and only days after US officials met with the Taliban government in Kabul to request the release of a imprisoned British tourist.
The Haqqani Network continues to be referred to as a Foreign Terrorist Organization despite the fact that there is no current reward for Sirajuddin Haqqani, his brother Abdul Aziz Haqqani, and his brother-in-law Yahya Haqqani.
A$ 10 million bounty on Sirajuddin Haqqani was displayed on an FBI website on Monday, but the reward offer has since been removed.
Abdul Mateen Qani, a spokesman for the Taliban interior ministry, claimed the government’s continued diplomatic efforts were the cause of the lifting of the bounty. This is a positive step, and it demonstrates how we are interacting with the world, particularly the United States. They ( the US delegation ) informed us that they wanted to foster more positive relationships and build our trust, he continued.
On Saturday, a US delegation including hostage envoy Adam Boehler and former envoy to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad met with the Taliban government’s foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi and other Taliban officials in Kabul. Afterwards, US national George Glezmann, detained in December 2022 while visiting Afghanistan as a tourist, was released by the Taliban government.
If lifting the bonuses was a part of the negotiations, it is not clear.
The Haqqani network was founded in the 1980s by Sirajuddin Haqani’s father, Jalaluddin Haqqani, as an anti-Soviet organization supported by the CIA. However, it developed into one of the region’s most feared anti-Western militant organizations.
When the Taliban first came to power in Afghanistan in 1996, the group allied with them. In 2018, Jalaruddin Haqqani passed away from a long-lasting illness.
As rifts between him and the Taliban’s supreme leader Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada grow, Sirajuddin Haqqani is starting to become a power center in the Afghan Taliban government.
Members of the Taliban government have told the BBC that the two sides ‘ main disagreements are over the issue of women’s education.
The Haqqanis have aimed to win over the nation’s frustrated students who are frustrated with the supreme leader’s intransigence regarding women’s education by presenting themselves as more moderate and galvanizing support.
The US government’s decision to drop bonuses is evidence that its standing is also rising internationally in the eyes of the international community eager to cooperate with the Taliban.
Bernd Debusmann and Mahfouz Zubaide provided additional reporting.