NATO claims arrest of senior Haqqani leader in Afghanistan

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NATO claims arrest of senior Haqqani leader in Afghanistan

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NATO says it has arrested a senior leader of Haqqani network in Afghanistan.

01 October,2011 03:51 pm

The announcement of Haji Mali Khans capture comes as the US steps up pressure on Afghanistans neighbour Pakistan to act against the Haqqanis, linked to Al-Qaeda and blamed for a string of attacks on Western targets.Security forces detained Haji Mali Khan, uncle of Siraj and Badruddin Haqqani and the senior Haqqani commander in Afghanistan, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said in a statement.Khan was captured close to Afghanistans porous border with Pakistan in Paktiya province Tuesday, it added, hailing the detention as a significant milestone in disrupting Haqqani operations.He reportedly worked directly under Siraj Haqqani, and managed bases and had oversight of operations in both Afghanistan and Pakistan, ISAF said.Mali Khan moved forces from Pakistan to Afghanistan to conduct terrorist activity. Jalaluddin Haqqani consistently placed Mali Khan in positions of high importance.The Haqqani network was founded by Jalaluddin Haqqani, a warlord who made his name during the 1980s jihad against the Soviets in Afghanistan, when he received funding from Pakistan and the CIA.Haqqani is a member of the Talibans supreme council but his son Sirajuddin now effectively runs the network.ISAF added that Khan had acted as an emissary between the Al-Qaeda-linked Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud and Haqqani leaders. Mehsud was killed by a US drone strike in Pakistan in 2009.A spokesman for Afghanistans intelligence agency the National Directorate of Security (NDS), Lutfullah Mashal, confirmed the capture but gave different details of his relationship with the networks leader.We know that he is a member of Sirajuddin Haqqanis family but we are not sure if he is the immediate cousin. He is maybe the cousin of Sirajuddin Haqqanis cousin, he said.I am not sure if he was really an active Haqqani commander, he added, referring media queries back to ISAF.A senior Western security source speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity added that the name of Haji Mali Khan was not familiar as that of a leading insurgent figure.The Haqqani network has been blamed for a string of attacks in Afghanistan, particularly in the capital Kabul.Most recently, Ryan Crocker, the US ambassador to Afghanistan, said it was behind a 19-hour attack which targeted the American embassy and led to at least six rocket-propelled grenades landing in its grounds.