Haqqani Fighters Bomb Kabul
BY Herschel Smith
13 years, 3 months ago
E2 writing for Free Range International predicted when this happened that this wasn’t the Taliban – it was the Haqqani network of fighters. Sure enough, we now learn that this is exactly what happened.
American and Afghan officials on Wednesday blamed a Taliban offshoot, the Haqqani network, for a marathon assault on the U.S. Embassy and the NATO force headquarters that killed 16 Afghans, including civilians and members of the security forces.
Eleven assailants died as well, the last of them shot Wednesday morning as Afghan police, backed by NATO helicopters, regained control of the unfinished high-rise structure the attackers used as their main staging ground.
The 20-hour siege paralyzed the city center, terrorized Kabul residents and sent hundreds of American embassy worker, military personnel and civilian NATO staff into hardened bunkers, where they remained for hours.
Senior U.S. officials sought Wednesday to downplay the significance of the attack, saying it had little or no military affect. But many Afghans, particularly those living or working in the vicinity of the strikes, spoke of a pervasive sense of insecurity in their daily lives.
We’ve covered the Haqqani network before, and we won’t waste time unearthing their precise relationship again with the Taliban, the Tehrik-i-Taliban, the LeT, the Kashmir fighters, and so forth. But take note of one thing. The Haqqani fighters are said in the above article to be a “Taliban offshoot.” Elsewhere, the words “Taliban-affiliated” are used.
Make sure to point this out. Because it’s important when we try to sell the idea of negotiating with and reintegrating the Taliban that the American people know that we mean the Quetta Shura, you know, the … good … Taliban. Not those bad guys the Haqqanis. Words have to do with perceptions.
On September 15, 2011 at 4:29 pm, RRK said:
The Quetta Shura has all the can handle in Helmand and Kandahar provinces while the Haqqani controls all the rats lanes in Kabul. If one takes a look at the drone strikes in the FATA a great number of them are against Haqqani targets in North Waziristan.
What US media for the most part fails to recognize is the Haqqani organization is considered good Taliban by the Pakistani government and will not be attacked no how much we ask them too.
What is also of great concern is the Hektmatyar’s HIG organization is cooperating with the Haqqanis. HIG was in part responsible for the attack in Wanat. From their operating areas it is clear these groups are sharing the same infilitration routes and probably fighters.
The Haqqanis and HIG will not be molested by Pakistan and therefore have a safe haven to fall back on. The key as it has been since the Soviet invasion is the FATA of Pakistan with it the Taliban, Haqqani, and HIG can re-arm and recruit from the Afghan refugee population and willing Pakistanis as well as having a way to the outside world for foreign fighters.