ISLAMABAD – Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani announced Tuesday that hewill free Anas Haqqani, the brother of a feared militant leader whoseeponymous group is considered one of the most dangerous factions fightingAfghan and US-led NATO forces in Afghanistan.
The release of Haqqani and two other high-ranking Taliban prisoners appearsto be part of a potential prisoner swap for American Kevin King andAustralian Timothy Weeks, professors at the American University ofAfghanistan who were dragged from vehicles in Kabul by gunmen in 2016.
– Who is Anas Haqqani? –
Anas Haqqani’s older brother Sirajuddin heads the Haqqani Network, aTaliban affiliate founded by their father Jalaluddin and blamed for some ofthe most shocking and brutal attacks in Afghanistan since the US invasionof 2001.
He was arrested in 2014 and sentenced to death in 2016, with Afghanauthorities accusing him of a being a high-level player in the network. TheTaliban has long demanded his release, insisting he is a student.
Speculation he might be freed in return for Taliban concessions has swirledrepeatedly since then — especially since the US began holding direct talkswith the insurgents last year.
His fate has also been seen as a bargaining chip in negotiations overvarious Western hostages — as in 2016 when rumours swirled in Kabul thatthe government was planning to execute him.
Shortly after, the militants released a video showing Canadian Joshua Boyleand his American wife Caitlan Coleman, who were kidnapped in 2012, pleadingfor their release. They were freed the following year.
– Does his release affect talks? –
Over the past year Washington and the Taliban have been holding directtalks, seeking an agreement that many hoped would pave the way for UStroops to begin leaving Afghanistan and for the militants to startnegotiations with Kabul.
They were on the verge of a deal when US President Donald Trump scuttledthe talks in September, citing Taliban violence.
Most observers agree that a political settlement is the only way towardslasting peace in Afghanistan, and both the US and the Taliban left the dooropen for talks to resume.
The release of Anas Haqqani could indicate a breakthrough of sorts.
The Taliban had included his name in a negotiating team unveiled inFebruary, and the group’s spokesman told AFP at the time that he had beencaptured by the Americans, and “should be released to better help with thetalks”.
On Tuesday Ghani said the decision to free him and the other prisoners hadbeen taken in part to “pave the way for holding direct talks with theTaliban”.
– Why are the Haqqanis so important? –
The group was founded by Jalaluddin, who gained notoriety during themujahideen war against the Soviet occupation in the 1980s. At first avaluable CIA asset, he also fostered close ties with foreign jihadistsincluding Osama bin Laden.
He later became a minister in the Taliban regime before launching aninsurgency against foreign forces after the US-led invasion of 2001.
A designated terror group long suspected of links to Pakistan’s shadowymilitary establishment, the network was described by US Admiral Mike Mullenin 2011 as a “veritable arm” of Pakistani intelligence.
Jalaluddin’s death was announced last year and the network is now led byhis son, Sirajuddin, who doubles as the Afghan Taliban’s deputy leader.
The Haqqanis are known for their frequent use of suicide bombers andanalysts suspect them of being behind some of the high-profile Kabulattacks claimed by the Islamic State group in recent years.
Among many grim assaults, they were accused of killing around 150 people inthe heart of the capital with a truck bomb in May 2017, though Sirajuddinlater denied responsibility in a rare audio message.
The network has also been accused of assassinating top Afghan officials,and kidnapping Westerners for ransom.
The Haqqanis long held US soldier Bowe Bergdahl, who was released in 2014in exchange for five Afghan Guantanamo Bay detainees.
– Where are the Haqqanis now? –
Following the US invasion of Afghanistan, Taliban fighters including theHaqqanis flooded across the border into Pakistan, where they regroupedbefore launching an insurgency.
The US launched repeated drone attacks against the group, while Pakistan’smilitary conducted successive clearing operations and now insists thatthere are no militant safe havens left on Pakistani soil.
Some militant sources say the pressure forced many of the Haqqanisunderground or over the border, back into their Afghan strongholds, claimsthat AFP cannot confirm.
Unverified reports placed Jalaluddin in Pakistan in the years before hedied. It is not yet clear where Anas will go once he is released. – APP/AFP