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US doubles reward for Siraj Haqqani to $10m

US doubles reward for Siraj Haqqani to $10m

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21 Aug 2014 - 13:25
US doubles reward for Siraj Haqqani to $10m
author avatar
21 Aug 2014 - 13:25

WASHINGTON (Pajhwok): The US on Wednesday announced doubling its rewards on Sirajuddin Haqqani to $10 million for information leading to his arrest.

Simultaneously, it also announced an award of $5 million each for information leading to four other top Haqqani leaders — Aziz Haqqani, Khalil al-Rahman Haqqani, Yahya Haqqani and Abdul Rauf Zakir.

Sirajuddin Haqqani is the son of the Haqqani Network’s Serena Hotel that killed US citizen Thor David Hesla and five other people. The Department of State designated him as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist under Executive Order 13224 in March 2008.

Aziz Haqqani is Sirajuddin’s brother and is involved in logistical operations and command decisions involving cross-border attacks on ISAF.             

Khalil al-Rahman Haqqani, Sirajuddin’s uncle, is a senior HQN member who has raised funds for the Taliban and who has been linked to al-Qaida terrorist operations. He also has overseen the detention of hostages captured by HQN and Taliban fighters. The Department of the Treasury designated him as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist on February 9, 2011.

Yahya Haqqani, Sirajuddin’s brother-in-law, has been closely involved in the group’s operational, financial, and propaganda activities, and has served as de-facto leader when other senior-most HQN leaders were absent.

He has delivered funds to HQN commanders and al-Qaida members. He has also served as HQN’s primary liaison with foreign terrorists fighting in the region. The Department of the Treasury designated him as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist on February 5, 2014.

Abdul Rauf Zakir is HQN’s chief of suicide operations and its operational commander for Kabul Province and the northern provinces of Takhar, Kunduz, and Baghlan. He also oversees HQN’s weapons training program, whose trainees killed 16 Afghans, including six children, in the September 2011 attack on the US Embassy in Kabul. The Department of State designated him as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist under Executive Order 13224 on November 5, 2012.

Formed in the late 1970s by Jalaluddin Haqqani, the group is allied with al-Qaida and the Afghan Taliban and cooperates with other terrorist organizations in the region.

Based primarily in North Waziristan, Pakistan, HQN conducts cross-border attacks in eastern Afghanistan and Kabul and is considered the most lethal insurgent group targeting International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and Afghan personnel in Afghanistan.

The Haqqani Network is responsible for many high-profile attacks in Afghanistan, including the 19-hour attack on the US Embassy in Kabul and the nearby ISAF headquarters in September 2011. The Secretary of State designated it as a Foreign Terrorist Organization on September 7, 2012.

rm/mud

 

 

 

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