For the past 20 years, the Haqqani Network has been fighting alongside the Taliban for a common goal and has carried out the bloodiest attacks across the country. However, in these 20 years, the responsibility of all the attacks of this network was taken by the Taliban, and they tried not to recognize this network as a group separate from the Taliban.
Although the name of the Haqqani network was mentioned a lot in the media, the Taliban spokesman always had said that all are members of the Taliban and that there are no separate structures of the Haqqani’s and the Taliban.
During over 20 years, the Taliban managed to introduce the Haqqani network as a part of itself, and the responsibility of all the attacks of Haqqani’s were assumed by the Taliban spokesperson.
Even after the collapse of the republic system, following the withdrawal of US troops and the return of the Taliban into power, Taliban officials and leaders of the Haqqani network tried hard to hide the identity of their network and consider themselves part of the “Islamic Emirate” of the Taliban.
But with the passage of time and for various reasons, the Haqqani network has returned to its origin and tends to reveal its hidden identity. This network has recently released a series of videos of its fighters who have carried out suicide attacks in the past 20 years, targeting the then Afghan security forces and the foreign troops across Afghanistan.
Haqqani network is willing to reveal its hidden identity
In the latest video published by the Haqqani network, had showed Sirajuddin Haqqani, the leader of the Haqqani network and the current Interior Minister along with his brother Badruddin Haqqani where both saying goodbye to a young suicide bomber and explaining the attack plan to him.
Badruddin was the youngest brother of Sirajuddin, whom the Taliban’s official website identified as the initiator of the suicide attacks, and according to the Taliban, he had designed and implemented 75 suicide attacks, including the attack on the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul. His name was in the US blacklist and eventually he was killed in an American drone attack in 2012.
Though, apparently the Haqqani network is now part of the Taliban government, but in addition to the military structures, its propaganda section is also separate. Last Thursday, Haqqani network commemorated the death anniversary of Maulvi Sangin, the former military officer of this network in Paktika province. This was despite the fact that senior Taliban officials did not even write anything about him on social platforms and did not even make a small reference to him. But members of the Haqqani network commemorated this day by releasing a documentary film on the life of Sangin and called him a national hero.
Taliban didn’t broadcast Haqqani commander documentary film in national tv
The spokesperson of the Kabul Police Command, who is a member of the Haqqani network and a member of Molavi Sangin’s family, called him his role model. However, this documentary film was not broadcasted on the national television under the control of the Taliban, but in Shamshad, a private tv channel and on big screens in the provinces of Kabul, Khost, Nangarhar and some other provinces.
Sangin, originally from Zirok district of Khost province and from the Zadran tribe. He was born in North Waziristan and had close relations with the Pakistani Taliban.
He had a history of war not only in Afghanistan, but also in Waziristan, and he was involved in armed battles with different people. His name was on the US blacklist, he was killed by an American drone on September 9, 2013 in North Waziristan of Pakistan.
He was one of the important commanders of the Haqqani network. US soldier Beau Bergdahl, who was later exchanged with five current senior Taliban officials, was captured by the fighters under Sangin’s command, which the Haqqani network considers his greatest heroism. The Haqqani network held Bergdahl from 2009 to 2014. The Haqqani network called Sangin a heroic fighter in the documentary it made about him.
But the noteworthy point is that in this documentary he is not introduced as a member of the Taliban, but is called a member of the Haqqani network or the Haqqani group.
This is despite the fact that during the last 20 years, the Haqqani network did not consider itself as a separate armed structure from the Taliban. Meanwhile, in this documentary, an audio file of Rahimullah Yousafzai, a former BBC reporter, is played, calling him one of the important commanders of the Haqqani network.
Internal dispute between the Taliban and Haqqani network is getting serious
In parts of the documentary, videos of his battles are played. In one of these videos, he is seen next to Baitullah Mehsud, the former leader of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). In this documentary, all the talks about him were done by members of the Haqqani network, many of whom now hold various positions in the Taliban’s Ministry of Interior in Kabul.
In this documentary, no one except members of the Haqqani network talked about Sangin. At the end of the documentary, he is mentioned as a member of the Haqqani network, not a member of the Taliban.
The point is that after three years since the return of the Taliban into power, and internal disputes among the Taliban and Haqqani over government positions, now the Haqqani’s are apparently trying to reveal their true identity in the Taliban government.
The frequent release of videos of suicide fighters by the Haqqani network may be a message to the Taliban that the heavy burden of the war is on the shoulders of this group and the regime should have a bigger share of it. Previously, the leader of the Haqqani network criticized the monopoly of power and considered this practice as the detriment of the Taliban government.
After 20 years of the Haqqani network defending its identity and the Taliban’s indifference to the killed commanders of this group, even to the extent that the national television controlled by the Taliban did not allow the broadcast of a documentary of one of the commanders of this network, it shows that the hidden battle between the Haqqani network and the Taliban is unfolding and expanding.
