Terrorist Safe Haven in Afghanistan a Formula for Disaster, Says US Senator Graham

Rahmatullah Nabil, the former head of Afghanistan's intelligence agency, has claimed that several leaders of the Haqqani network, including Sirajuddin Haqqani, have left Kabul for their hideouts in southwestern Afghanistan after al-Zawahiri was killed in a US drone strike.

He told Voice of America (VoA) that Sirajuddin Haqqani was last seen in a few short videos that the Taliban's Interior Ministry tweeted on August 1. In these videos, Haqqani is seen greeting and talking with people in the rural areas of Paktia Province.

Nabil said, "After the attack on al-Zawahiri, Sirajuddin Haqqani has left for Paktia province and everyone, including his closest aides, have gone into hiding. They were not seen in the Ministry of Interior in Kabul."

The Taliban said on Thursday that they did not know about al- Zawahiri's presence in the heart of Kabul, which was located less than one kilometer away from the Taliban's General Directorate of Intelligence. However, the US authorities contradict the group’s claims.

In response to the question of whether the Taliban knew about al-Zawahiri's presence in Kabul, US National Security Council’s spokesperson John Kirby told reporters that "senior members of the Haqqani network knew”.

Bounty of $10 million on his head

Haqqani, the 42-year-old interior minister of the Taliban and the leader of the Haqqani network with a $10 million bounty on his head, is not the only terrorist of the Haqqani family that the United States has set a reward for information leading to their arrest.

The United States has put a $5 million reward for information leading to the arrest of Khalil ur Rahman Haqqani, Sirajuddin's uncle, who is the minister of refugee affairs in the Taliban cabinet, and Aziz Haqqani, Sirajuddin's younger brother.

There is no cash reward for the arrest of Yahya Haqqani, a close aide and brother-in-law of Sirajuddin, but he was also designated as a global terrorist by the United States in 2014.

The Haqqanis are wanted for being involved in killings and organising a series of terrorist attacks in Afghanistan since 2008.

Sirajuddin Haqqani is accused of planning the January 14, 2008, attack on the Serena Hotel in Kabul. Six people, including an American citizen, had been killed in the attack. In March 2008, the US State Department designated Sirajuddin Haqqani as a global terrorist.

In February 2008, Khalil Haqqani was also named a wanted terrorist by the US law enforcement and security agencies. Among other terrorist activities, Khalil Haqqani is accused of providing weapons and financial resources to al-Qaeda operatives in Afghanistan.

The Haqqanis had lived so secretly that no photos of Sirajuddin had been published until a few months after the fall of Kabul to the Taliban in August 2021. Sirajuddin and Khalil Haqqani boast of the victory against the US and claim themselves as the liberating forces of Kabul.

Taliban stressed that the suspects had been arrested from Mir Dawood Gate in Herat city. According to the Taliban, the accused have confessed to their crimes.

After the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, there have been various reports of some citizens selling their children due to poverty.

In March, the Washington Post reported about two cases wherein the families in Afghanistan were forced to sell their daughters because of hunger.

On Tuesday, the Taliban confirmed the US airstrike on a residential house in Kabul.

The Taliban stressed that the group’s intelligence agencies will investigate thoroughly various aspects of the strike.

The Taliban has emphasized that there are no threats to the United States and other countries from Afghan soil. The Taliban added that this group demands the implementation of the Doha Agreement.

While the Taliban is in denial regarding previous knowledge about al-Zawahiri’s presence in Afghanistan, John Kirby, the US National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications, said in a press conference recently that "we have clearly told the Taliban that we know what they did and who they sheltered".

Kirby added that after Ayman al-Zawahiri was killed, the Taliban took steps to hide evidence of his presence.

Earlier, the US State Department issued a statement saying that by hosting and sheltering the leader of al-Qaeda in Kabul, the Taliban grossly violated the Doha Agreement. The US State Department stressed that the Taliban also betrayed the Afghan people and their own stated desire for recognition and normalization of relations with the international community.

Taliban has warned that in case of repeated attacks on Afghanistan, the US will be responsible for the consequences.

According to the Doha agreement between the Taliban and the United States, the group has pledged that it will not allow any individual or group, including Al-Qaeda, to use Afghanistan's soil against the United States and its allies.

According NRC due to last week's floods in Afghanistan, 1,720 houses were destroyed and 3,073 houses were damaged, 12 wheat mills were destroyed and 28 bridges had collapsed. At the same time, over five kilometres of asphalt roads had also been damaged.

NRC estimates that around 18,000 people have been affected by the recent floods in Afghanistan.

In a statement, Neil Turner, the country director of NRC in Afghanistan, acknowledged that the situation in rural Afghanistan was already critical before the flooding. He said that the economic crisis following the Taliban takeover last year has pushed many Afghan farmers into severe debt.

According to him, crops were wiped away and winter was just around the corner and that these communities have zero time to recover.

The statement added that according to the assessment of the United Nations Food Program, Afghanistan is among the six countries whose population is at catastrophic risk of hunger that requires immediate attention.

At the same time, he stressed that the international community should take urgent measures to reduce the damage caused by the current economic restrictions imposed on Afghanistan.

Wang Yu, Chinese ambassador in Kabul, quoted Hua Chunying the country’s spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Twitter as saying that there should not be double standards in the fight against terrorism.

Yu also quoted Chunying as saying that the fight should be against all forms of terrorism.

US President Joe Biden announced on Tuesday night that the US killed Ayman al-Zawahiri, the leader of al-Qaeda, in a drone strike in Kabul last Sunday. The killing of al-Zawahiri in Kabul has caused widespread international reactions.