Profiling Sirajuddin Haqqani

-Written by Mansi Chhadia, Intern (CAS)

-Edited by Vasatika Saraswat, Editor (CAS)

The new Taliban government was declared on 7th September 2021, listing thirty-three ministers as part of its cabinet and declaring Afghanistan an “Islamic Emirate” (The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, or IEA). Of these thirty-three, the position of the interior minister was occupied by Sirajuddin Haqqani, who had formerly also held the position of military chief. He is the son of Jalaluddin Haqqani, who was the previous leader of the Haqqani network – one of the most dangerous terrorist organisations in the world. In 2015, Sirajuddin Haqqani took over the leadership of the network. The most frightening irony is precisely this – the man listed in the FBI’s most wanted, which the organisation states to be a “specially designated global terrorist”, is currently heading the office of public security in Afghanistan.

Sirajuddin is the son of Jalajuddin and his Zadran wife. He received his education from an Islamic seminary, Darul Uloom Haqqania madrasa (approximately 60 miles from Afghanistan’s border), which is one of the oldest seminaries in Pakistan. The madrasa has been called “a university of jihad” by its critics who “blame it for helping to sow violence across the region for decades”.2 Furthermore, the madrasa has educated more Taliban leaders than any other, and its alumni now hold critical ministerial positions in Afghanistan.3 In fact, the Haqqani network was also named after the madrasa and retains its links to it.

1 Sirajuddin Haqqani, 2010
2 Rehman, 2021
3 Ibid.
4 Ibid.Sirajuddin Haqqani (Photo Credit: AFP)5

The Haqqani Network

The Haqqani network was founded by Sirajuddin Haqqani’s father, Jalaluddin, during the Soviet-Afghan War that spanned from 1978 to 1992, with mujahideen defeating the Soviet- backed communist government of Afghanistan. Sirajuddin’s lineage goes back to the Pashtun Jadran (Zadran) tribe from Paktiyā province in southeastern Afghanistan, where his father Jalajuddin hailed from.6 During the 2001 US-led invasion of Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, members of the Haqqani network sought refuge in tribal areas of Pakistan. Sirajuddin Haqqani took charge of the network in the Taliban insurgency against USA and international forces in Afghanistan and the elected government there under Hamid Karzai’s leadership.

Sirajuddin has been accused of “participating in the financing, planning, facilitating…” of acts and activities of the Taliban, Al-Qaeda and Jaish-i-Mohammed, for which he has been listed in sanctions by the United Nations Security Council.8 The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has Haqqani listed in their ‘Most Wanted’ for his association with the 2008 attack on a hotel in Kabul that killed six people, including an American citizen, and for his alleged involvement in the planning of the assassination attempt against President Karzai in 2008. The FBI offered a bounty of $10 million for anyone who provided information leading to his

5 Taliban leader Sirajuddin Haqqani makes first public appearance, says ‘world faces no threat from Afghanistan’, 2022
6 Haqqani network, 2024
7 Ibid.
8 Sirajuddin Jallaloudine Haqqani | security council, 2001
9 Sirajuddin Haqqani, 2010

capture. Haqqani presided over numerous attacks and bombings carried out by the network on facilities in Kabul, which caused several casualties, including Afghan civilians. Now, with many leaders of the Haqqani network holding positions in the Afghan government and Sirajuddin as interior minister, the network’s access to “financial and logistical support” from Pakistani tribes and the ISI (Islamic State of Iraq) continues.

Poster from FBI’s Official Website

Taliban’s Deputy Minister

In 2016, Sirajuddin Haqqani became one of the two deputies of the Taliban leader, Sheikh Haibatullah Akhundzada, being in charge of fighters, religious schools, and many of the Taliban’s military efforts.12 During his tenure as a deputy, he wrote a guest article for The New York Times, titled “What We, the Taliban, Want”, in 2020. In the article, ironically, Haqqani expressed, on behalf of the Taliban, their desire for the “killing and maiming” to stop, since because of the conflict that had then been going on for eighteen years, he wrote “precious Afghan lives have been lost every day”.13 He further went on to write how the Taliban did not choose war, but were forced to defend themselves after the US-led invasion, and that their multiple negotiation efforts with the United States continued to go on, despite

10 Ramakrishnan et al., 2023
11 Sirajuddin Haqqani, 2010
12 Schorzman, 2021
13 Haqqani, 2020there having been “intensified bombing campaign” against their villages by the United States
and “the flip-flopping and ever-moving goal posts of the American side.”
14 Moreover, he wrote, that their continuation to strive for negotiations with the US testified to their “commitment to ending the hostilities and bringing peace” to Afghanistan.
15 “We are aware of the concerns and questions in and outside Afghanistan about the kind of government we would have after the foreign troops withdraw. My response to such concerns is that it will depend on a consensus among Afghans.”
16 “I am confident that, liberated from foreign domination and interference, we together will find a way to build an Islamic system in which all Afghans have equal rights, where the rights of women that are granted by Islam — from the right to education to the right to work — are protected, and where merit is the basis for equal opportunity.”
17 Interestingly, in the article, Haqqani also mentioned the Taliban’s plans for the future. He promised that after achieving freedom from foreign intervention, the government formed by the Taliban would reflect every Afghan’s voice, where none would feel excluded. Especially mentioned in the article were the rights of women and a strong statement about how the government would ensure that their right to work and education is granted. Finally, he also wrote about the status of negotiations with the US and how they were, despite all the difficulties and distrust showcased by the US, on the brink of an agreement. The article, in essence, provided assurances that the Taliban would be more liberal in terms of rights and more inclusive in terms of the voices of its citizens.

Acting Interior Minister – Recent Happenings

Sirajuddin made a prominent public appearance for the international audience when he appeared for his first proper interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour (interviewer) in 2022. First, when asked about the commitments made by him in his article for the New York Times, he said that those were made at a time of war and that the transition from the previous 14 Ibid. 15 Ibid. 16 Ibid. 17 Ibid. government to theirs had been under military conditions and not peacefully, how the Taliban wished for it to be, and that the Taliban would like to uphold the commitments now.
18 Most importantly, Amanpour asked him a question she had long been asking Taliban leaders – whether he believed young girls (secondary school) would be allowed to go to school in Afghanistan.
19 To this, he replied, “There is no one who opposed education for women and already girls are allowed to go to school up to grade 6, and above that grade, the work is continuing on a mechanism”.
20 He stated multiple times that no one at the leadership level opposed education for women, but due to some issues, the work was in progress. He concluded on the matter by stating that “very soon, you will hear excellent news on this issue, god willing”.
21 Lastly, on the matter of ties with the USA, Haqqani said that the Taliban did want relations with them, like the rest of the world, based on principles and diplomatic norms that the two parties established together.
22 More recently, the interior minister, who managed to keep his whereabouts abstracted from the media for years, took his first trip abroad since he assumed his position in the cabinet. On June 4th, Sirajuddin Haqqani made a trip to the United Arab Emirates, where he was received by the President of UAE, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The two leaders shook hands, and discussed strengthening bilateral ties in order to contribute to mutual interests and regional interests, the state-run agency WAM reported.
23 Furthermore, their talks “focused on economic and development fields, as well as support for reconstruction and development in Afghanistan.”
24 UAE is also the second prominent country, after China, to accept and officially recognise the credentials of Badruddin Haqqani as the Taliban’s government’s ambassador.25 Badruddin is closely connected to Sirajuddin Haqqani since he plays an essential role in the Haqqani network led by Sirajuddin. 18 Amanpour and Haqqani, 2022 19 Ibid. 20 Ibid. 21 Ibid. 22 Ibid. 23 Gul, 2024 24 Ibid.
25 Mehmood, 2024UAE President receiving the Taliban Interior Minister at his place in Abu Dhabi (Courtesy: Haqqani office)
26 Sirajuddin Haqqani’s visit to the UAE and the latter’s official recognition of the Taliban diplomatic envoy marks a pertinent shift in regional dynamics. Since the West and the UN remain critical of the Taliban because of their extremely restrictive stance on women’s rights, besides other issues, this event highlights a global divide over the issue of acceptance of the Taliban government. Moreover, despite the commitments made by Haqqani in his 2020 article, the fraudulent nature of the promises soon presented itself when the Taliban assumed power over the country in 2021. The status of women’s rights in Afghanistan is deplorable and a matter of grave concern. This has escalated in the wake of recently announced rules where women can no longer bare their faces, and their voices can no longer be heard in public places. While the Taliban government remains internationally unrecognised, analysing the steps and strategies of the Taliban are significant to determine the fate of the country’s future, and recent events indicate that Sirajuddin Haqqani might be playing a pivotal role in some of the Taliban’s major future plans and implementations. 26 Gul, 2024

References

• Amanpour, C. and Haqqani, S. (2022) ‘Exclusive: Amanpour speaks with Taliban deputy leader’, CNN. Cable News Network. Taliban leader Sirajuddin Haqqani makes first public appearance, says ‘world faces no threat from Afghanistan’ (2022) Free Press Journal. Available at: https://www.freepressjournal.in/world/taliban-leader-sirajuddin-haqqani-makes-first-public-appearance-says-world-faces-no-threat-from-afghanistan (Accessed: 27 August 2024).
• Gul, A. (2024) Taliban official facing $10 million US bounty makes rare UAE visit, Voice of America. Available at: https://www.voanews.com/a/taliban-official-facing-10-million-us-bounty-makes-rare-uae-visit/7643699.html (Accessed: 27 August 2024). Haqqani network (2024) Encyclopaedia Britannica. Available at: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Haqqani-network (Accessed: 27 August 2024). Haqqani, S. (2020) What We, the Taliban, Want, The New York Times. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/20/opinion/taliban-afghanistan-war-haqqani.html (Accessed: 24 August 2024).
• Mehmood, A. (2024) UAE accepts Taliban envoy as Global Power Dynamics Shift, The Media Line. Available at: https://themedialine.org/by-region/uae-accepts-taliban-envoy-as-global-power-dynamics-shift/ (Accessed: 27 August 2024). Ramakrishnan, A. et al. (2023) A network of possibilities: How the Haqqani network changed the face of global terrorism forever, Georgetown Security Studies Review. Available at: https://georgetownsecuritystudiesreview.org/2023/11/13/a-network-of-possibilities-how-the-haqqani-network-changed-the-face-of-global-terrorism-forever/ (Accessed: 27 August 2024).
• Rehman, Zia. “Where Afghanistan’s New Taliban Leaders Went to School.” The New York Times, 25 Nov. 2021, www.nytimes.com/2021/11/25/world/asia/pakistan-taliban-afghanistan-madrasa.html. Accessed 01 Sept. 2024.Schorzman, D. (2021) Who Are the Taliban’s New Government Leaders? Here’s What We Know, The New York Times. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/article/taliban-leaders-afghanistan.html (Accessed: 24 August 2024).
• Sirajuddin Haqqani (2010) FBI. Available at: https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/terrorinfo/sirajuddin-haqqani (Accessed: 25 August 2024). Sirajuddin Jallaloudine Haqqani | security council (2001) United Nations. Available at: https://main.un.org/securitycouncil/en/sanctions/1988/materials/summaries/individual/sirajuddin-jallaloudine-haqqani (Accessed: 25 August 2024).