NATO captures top Haqqani network elder
Jack Healy. smh.com.au
October 3, 2011
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KABUL: NATO forces say they have captured a man they described as a high-ranking member of the Haqqani network, the Pakistan clan the United States considers one of the biggest threats to bringing stability to Afghanistan.
The Afghan-led clan, which US officials have said has strong links with Pakistan's top spy agency, is accused of launching an hours-long assault on the US embassy in Kabul last month.
NATO said the clan member, Haji Mali Khan, was the Haqqani network's top figure inside Afghanistan, a ''revered elder'' among the clan and an uncle of two of its top leaders. In a statement, the coalition called his capture a ''significant milestone'' in its increasing efforts to damage the militant group.
Mr Khan was arrested on Tuesday by Afghan and Western forces in the Jani Khel district of Paktiya province in eastern Afghanistan. NATO said Mr Khan was heavily armed but surrendered without resistance.
It was unclear how Mr Khan's detention would affect the Haqqani leadership, their criminal money-making activities or their ability to send suicide bombers into Afghanistan.
The highest echelons of the clan's leadership are believed to live in Pakistan, which has been loath to jump into the fight against them. US officials believe the Pakistanis refuse to do so because they want to use the clan as a way of maintaining influence in Afghanistan.
Mollawi Sardar Zadran, a former Haqqani commander, said he expected the arrest to degrade the network's relationships with tribal elders in the eastern provinces of Afghanistan, at least temporarily.
''He had special tactics in fighting and attacking military convoys and roadside bombs, and he was a very close and trusted commander,'' Mr Zadran said.
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smh.com.au/world/nato-captures-top-haqqani-network-elder-20111002-1l3r9.html
:
Jack Healy. smh.com.au
October 3, 2011
======================================================
KABUL: NATO forces say they have captured a man they described as a high-ranking member of the Haqqani network, the Pakistan clan the United States considers one of the biggest threats to bringing stability to Afghanistan.
The Afghan-led clan, which US officials have said has strong links with Pakistan's top spy agency, is accused of launching an hours-long assault on the US embassy in Kabul last month.
NATO said the clan member, Haji Mali Khan, was the Haqqani network's top figure inside Afghanistan, a ''revered elder'' among the clan and an uncle of two of its top leaders. In a statement, the coalition called his capture a ''significant milestone'' in its increasing efforts to damage the militant group.
Mr Khan was arrested on Tuesday by Afghan and Western forces in the Jani Khel district of Paktiya province in eastern Afghanistan. NATO said Mr Khan was heavily armed but surrendered without resistance.
It was unclear how Mr Khan's detention would affect the Haqqani leadership, their criminal money-making activities or their ability to send suicide bombers into Afghanistan.
The highest echelons of the clan's leadership are believed to live in Pakistan, which has been loath to jump into the fight against them. US officials believe the Pakistanis refuse to do so because they want to use the clan as a way of maintaining influence in Afghanistan.
Mollawi Sardar Zadran, a former Haqqani commander, said he expected the arrest to degrade the network's relationships with tribal elders in the eastern provinces of Afghanistan, at least temporarily.
''He had special tactics in fighting and attacking military convoys and roadside bombs, and he was a very close and trusted commander,'' Mr Zadran said.
================================================
smh.com.au/world/nato-captures-top-haqqani-network-elder-20111002-1l3r9.html
:
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