Connect with us

ASIA

The truth on Haqqani assassination; Sacrificed in the game of throne

Published

on

Khalil al-Rahman Haqqani, the Taliban Minister of Refugees and a senior member of the Haqqani network, was killed in a suicide attack in the Ministry’s building in Afghanistan’s capital city, Kabul. He was the only armed Taliban minister who attended all official and unofficial meetings with a gun. Some senior officials of the former government have described the killing of Haqqani in a suicide attack as “martyrdom”, but a large number of citizens criticized these officials for expressing sympathy on his death. The citizens said that a large number of innocent Afghans were killed by the Haqqani network suicide squad which was under observation of the Khalil Haqqani in the past 20 years before they take power in 2021. They said that the families of the victims were a “little consoled” by the death of Haqqani.

At the same time, the Taliban’s Ministry of Information and Culture ordered media operating inside the country to use the word “martyrdom” in their reports instead of death. This order caused a number of media outlets to edit their already published news. A number of citizens of the country have attributed the killing Khalil Haqqani to the differences between Hibatullah Akhundzada the supreme leader of the Taliban and Sirajuddin Haqqani, the interior minister and head of Haqqani Network, referring to the “Amir and Khalifa” game of thrones.

In the past 20 years, the Haqqani network has taken responsibility for numerous suicide attacks in Kabul and some other provinces, as a result of which hundreds of people, including women and children, have been killed and injured.

After taking control of Afghanistan, this network has proudly praised its suicide fighters many times and given land and government facilities to their families. In the latest case, a senior member of this network and the uncle of Sirajuddin Haqqani, known as the “head of suicide bombers”, was killed in a suicide attack.

Khalil Haqqani was killed in a suicide attack at his ministry’s headquarters and the attack took place while he was constantly armed at the most official meetings and it was said that he did not trust his bodyguards either. Hours after the attack, the Taliban group published a photo attributed to the suicide bomber on social media and said that the attacker was holding a metal rod and had told the security guards that his hand had undergone surgery. He then detonated his explosive materials during the official meeting.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said that Khalil Haqqani was killed in a “barbaric” ISIS attack. He called Haqqani’s death a “big loss” for the Taliban and emphasized that this event cannot weaken the strength of the Taliban government. Sirajuddin Haqqani and a number of other members of the Taliban leadership praised him. Later, ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack.

It came as shock that Khalil Haqqnai killed by a suicide bomber

Apparently, it was not expected that someone like Khalil al-Rahman Haqqani, a famous and senior member of the Haqqani network, would become a victim of a suicide attack. Perhaps, after Sirajuddin Haqqani, the Taliban’s interior minister, he was the second prominent figure in the Haqqani network. Khalil Haqqani has played an effective and unique role in the provision of Haqqani’s financial resources.

It is said that he provided financial aid to the Haqqani network through Pakistan and some countries in the south of the Persian Gulf. Now that he has been removed from the field, the Haqqanis may be in some trouble. The US had set a bounty of five million dollars for revealing his whereabouts and he was also in the blacklist of the United Nations.

While it is still early, it is also difficult to talk about the visible and hidden sides of the Haqqani assassination despite the Daesh group having already claimed responsibility for this. Considering the way the Taliban have been ruling for more than three years, the internal differences of their regime, the claim of enmity of this group with ISIS, etc., the following points can be raised:

First:

The Haqqanis are known as the main planners and agents of suicide attacks in Afghanistan. Siraj Haqqani has frequently appreciated and consoled the survivors of the suicide bombers and distributed a huge amount of money to them. His consolation went beyond this and ordered that a “memorial minaret” be built in the Garde Siri district of Paktia province for the person who blew himself up in front of the US soldiers, something that is confusing to understand.

Just a few days ago, he went to Gilan district of Ghazni and during his speech, he once again praised the suicide bombers and called the freedom of Afghanistan the result of their sacrifice. Meanwhile, the rest of the important figures of the Taliban apparently do not speak widely about the suicide bombers. Now that one of the famous Haqqanis has been the victim of a suicide attack, it is not known whether Siraj Haqqani will continue to spread the culture of suicide.

Second:

Considering the status and credibility that Khalil Haqqani had in the Taliban regime and the Haqqani network, his loss is a big psychological blow to the Haqqanis, in a situation where (according to some claims) they are trying to stand against Mullah Hebatullah, the leader of the Taliban. Since the Taliban came back to power, no one from the Haqqani family had been killed like Khalil Haqqani. Mullah Hebatullah’’ block has lost a key member – Dawood Mozmal, the former governor of Balkh.

Khalil Haqqani showed himself to be so influential that he even carried weapons during official meetings with foreign officials (both Western and non-Western) and his bodyguards protected him with unique looks. Something that maybe even Hebatullah will not do. Therefore, it is difficult and time-consuming to fill Khalil Haqqani’s vacancy in the Haqqani network.

Third:

When we think about the perpetrator of the attack, several options come to mind: ISIS which has already claimed responsibility, but we should not forget about internal disputes, family quarrels, foreign intervention, opposition forces, etc. The prevailing suspicion is based on the involvement of ISIS; A group that is skilled in suicide and perhaps learned from the Taliban. Daoud Muzamel was also assassinated by ISIS. The Taliban also attributed the attack to ISIS, but this group has not claimed responsibility so far.

Some consider the internal conflicts of the Taliban to be the cause of terror, and in this context, Sirajuddin Haqqani’s statements against Hebatullah are cited. It is also mentioned in the references of western newspapers and institutions that “Sirajuddin and Hebatuallah” seem to be at odds with each other. Of course, in recent days, the Sirajuddin criticized Hebatullah more than ever before.

Since the Haqqani network is a complex and secretive organization, it is possible that those inside this organization may have provided a platform for assassination. The role of foreign intelligence also comes to mind, but it does not seem justified. It cannot be attributed to the opposing forces of the Taliban either because while they don’t have the ability, they also avoid doing it.

Fourth:

The Taliban’s claim about providing national security in Afghanistan has once again turned into a hoax. The Taliban have repeatedly claimed that the war is over, that national security is ensured, and that the migrants should return to Afghanistan and continue their lives. Of course, by making this claim, they have also received concessions from the world. Now, the assassination of a Taliban minister, even with high security arrangements, revealed that this group is not even able to provide security for someone who was carrying an American M4 weapon in an official meeting with foreign women. Of course, this is not the first time that the Taliban’s claims are wrong.

Fifth:

The assassination series is likely to continue. It is not known whether the next victim is from the Haqqani bloc or Hebatullah. Whatever and whoever it is, the result is the deepening of the Taliban’s internal discord and the world’s disbelief in what this group calls the provision of national security.

Of course, repression and suffocation will intensify more than in the past, because they suspect more citizens. It is possible that the Taliban officials will end their demonstration meetings with the people and refrain from traveling to the provinces. Anyway, the truth of Haqqani’s assassination and its consequences will be revealed more in the following weeks and months.

ASIA

China’s AsiaInfo expands with DeepSeek-powered AI

Published

on

China’s largest telecom software infrastructure provider says that working with artificial intelligence (AI) startup DeepSeek is helping the company develop its own AI capabilities, which it will use to expand in Southeast Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.

AsiaInfo Technologies CTO Ouyang Ye said in an exclusive interview with Nikkei Asia that the company’s collaboration with DeepSeek began well before it rose to global prominence earlier this year with a low-cost approach to developing AI models.

Ouyang said that AsiaInfo also works closely with other top-tier Chinese large language models (LLMs) such as Alibaba Cloud’s Tongyi Qianwen and ByteDance’s Doubao, but that the rise of the open-source DeepSeek model is what facilitates and accelerates the deployment of the company’s various AI solutions.

“Our telecom infrastructure software solutions for China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom fully support DeepSeek’s model,” said Ouyang, referring to the country’s three major telecom providers. He said that his company was the first in the industry to embed and fully support DeepSeek.

According to research by AsiaInfo and Tsinghua University, DeepSeek’s model performs well in specialized technical areas such as monitoring network failures and optimizing wireless communication performance.

The CTO said that, for example, China Unicom’s Guangdong subsidiary used AsiaInfo’s DeepSeek-enhanced solutions in February to optimize service efficiency. This initiative reduced training costs by 75%, enhanced AI assistant capabilities, accelerated response times by 200%, and increased the efficiency of human-machine collaboration by 40%.

Hong Kong-based AsiaInfo, a leading telecom software infrastructure solutions provider, competes with US-based Amdocs, India’s Infosys, and Poland’s Comarch. Some network equipment makers like Huawei, HPE, Cisco, and Nokia also provide some software services.

In addition to infrastructure software, AsiaInfo also provides business and operations support systems, such as network monitoring software and customer and billing management, including processing telecom billing information for China’s 1.4 billion population.

AsiaInfo is also the largest software provider for China’s 5G private networks, serving the country’s leading energy providers and steelmakers, such as China Nuclear Group and Shougang Group, as well as miners and wind farm operators. Private networks are set up by businesses or organizations to provide on-site connectivity to facilitate services like factory automation.

Ouyang is optimistic that AsiaInfo can leverage AI to boost its overseas expansion, and that 5G private networks are expected to be a significant growth driver in the Middle East, Africa, and Southeast Asia. The majority of AsiaInfo’s business is in China, and going overseas is one of the company’s core strategies for growth.

“This year, the growth potential in the overseas market is quite large, especially in the fields of mines, ports, and energy, where we have more specific domain expertise,” the senior executive said.

AsiaInfo Chairman and CEO Edward Tian previously stated that the traditional telecom market and spending have slowed in 2024, but the adoption of AI and LLMs has become a key growth driver for the company as customers begin to adopt these technologies in their services.

AsiaInfo says its software can run on servers and other hardware from different companies, including Nvidia, Huawei, and Hygon.

While leading Chinese tech companies and government agencies are adopting DeepSeek, some governments, such as Italy, Australia, Canada, and South Korea, are banning its use on official devices.

Continue Reading

ASIA

China unveils ‘most comprehensive’ plan in 40 years to boost consumption

Published

on

China has unveiled a new plan to stimulate domestic consumption, called the “Special Action Plan to Boost Consumption,” as it grapples with weak confidence and deflationary pressures.

The 30-point plan, issued by the General Office of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and the General Office of the State Council, aims to “strongly promote consumption, revitalize domestic demand as a whole, and enhance spending power by increasing earnings and reducing financial burdens.”

This plan supports President Xi Jinping’s directive from late last year, instructing policymakers to focus on boosting domestic demand.

Analysts have described China’s newly announced consumption action plan as the most comprehensive policy package the country has released in over four decades to boost consumer spending.

The plan from the State Council, China’s cabinet, will focus on increasing incomes, stabilizing real estate and stock markets, improving the consumption environment, and enhancing healthcare and pension services. Through this plan, the Chinese economy seeks to transition to a consumption-driven growth model.

News of the “Special Action Plan to Boost Consumption” invigorated stock markets on Monday.

The plan announcement, made late Sunday, followed the “Two Sessions” in Beijing last week, where legislators re-emphasized consumption as a top priority.

In China, domestic spending has remained weak since the end of Covid-19 lockdowns over two years ago, as households have been cautious about spending. Consumer prices fell into deflation in February, although figures were positively impacted by the New Year holiday.

The slowdown in China’s vast real estate sector has also renewed calls from economists to bolster domestic demand.

Data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Monday showed that retail sales rose 4% year-on-year in January and February, surpassing December’s 3.7% increase and aligning with forecasts from a Reuters poll of analysts.

In September, policymakers announced a long-awaited package to support the economy, but the measures largely focused on stock markets, disappointing investors.

The new plan, comprising eight main sections, addresses factors such as income growth, enhancing the quality-of-service consumption, improving large-scale consumption, and improving the consumption environment simultaneously.

It includes a commitment to raising the minimum wage, strengthening support for education, and establishing a subsidy system for childcare—a particularly pressing issue as China’s population has declined for three consecutive years.

Shi Lei, an economics professor at Fudan University in Shanghai, said, “This is the most comprehensive directive to promote consumption since China’s reform and opening up [in the late 1970s],” adding, “According to the policy, authorities will promote the reasonable growth of employees’ incomes by increasing employment, raising the minimum wage, and accelerating the implementation of the paid annual leave system.”

Speaking to the South China Morning Post, Shi noted, “In the past, policymakers often ignored income growth [when discussing ways to boost spending].” He added, “In fact, if consumers have money, they don’t need your encouragement to spend, and if they don’t have money, such encouragement won’t work.”

Lynn Song, ING’s Greater China chief economist, stated that the plan “focuses significantly on boosting household consumption capacity and willingness” and, if implemented correctly, “could help China’s economic transition towards a consumption-driven growth model.”

“The direction looks positive, but implementation is everything. It is not certain that these measures will be enough to restore consumer confidence to healthy levels,” Song wrote, also noting that the administration’s focus on boosting consumption, combined with a relatively low base last year, means that China’s consumption growth could reach a mid-single-digit growth rate in 2025.

Data released on Monday also showed that industrial production increased by 5.9% year-on-year in the first two months of 2025, slowing from 6.2% in December but exceeding analysts’ expectations of a 5.3% increase.

The new package will also promote “inbound” consumption. Beijing has granted visa-free travel to dozens of countries in the past year to revitalize inbound tourism post-pandemic.

It also highlights specific tourism sectors such as “snow and ice.” China has built several indoor ski resorts in recent years, including the world’s largest, which opened in Shanghai in September.

According to the plan, China will also broaden real estate income channels with measures to stabilize the stock market and develop more bond products suitable for individual investors.

The plan calls for exploring ways to unlock the value of homes legally owned by farmers through rental arrangements, equity participation, and cooperative models.

Notably, in addition to traditional consumption sectors such as housing and automobiles, it emphasizes emerging categories such as AI-powered products and the low-altitude economy.

It also states that new consumption sectors with high growth rates will be created by accelerating the development and application of new technologies and products such as autonomous driving, smart wearable products, ultra-high-definition video, brain-computer interfaces, robotics, and additive manufacturing, more commonly known as 3D printing.

Xu Chenggang, a senior research fellow at the Stanford University Center on China’s Economy and Institutions, said that Beijing’s shift towards consumption indicates official recognition that the economic situation is “serious.”

Zou Yunhan, a researcher at the State Information Center, also said that consumption is playing an increasingly key role in boosting economic growth, but some challenges still persist in the quest to further unleash consumer potential.

Looking ahead, Zou called for joint efforts from all sectors to ensure the full implementation and effectiveness of the action plan.

Continue Reading

ASIA

Gandhapur opposes Afghans forcible evacuation, advocates for their citizenship

Published

on

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sardar Ali Amin Khan Gandhapur’s reservations against federal government’s decision pertained to forcible evacuation of illegal immigrants earned hearts of war affected Afghans but it likely to fuel hardships for the federal government especially for “powerful military establishment.” For a long time the powerful military establishment has been facing failure after failure in its main objectives, which is –forcing Afghans to toe its lines on both internal and external policies.

He made it clear that he wants repatriation of Afghans with honour and dignity, which is not only in the interests of Pakhtoons but also is in the benefits of the country. All these people remained here for a long time and had made contributions in different fields of life and deepened relations with local people.

Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandhapur in a hurriedly called press conference while highlighting achievements and performances of his one year government has held the federal government responsible for all sorts of politico-economic and security issues, saying “ Central illegitimate regime has focused all attention on eliminating one party-PTI.” Adding further, “we, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government initiated steps for settling issues with Afghanistan, (banned TTP), economic hardships of the province, resolving long standing issues of financial arrears and others- but the federal government is reluctant to play its due role.”

Regarding evacuation of illegal immigrants, especially people from war-ravaged Afghanistan, Ali Amin Gandhapur has out rightly denounced the decision, terming it “violation of basic human rights.” He observed, “already Afghans are unhappy due to wrong and unrealistic policies of the high-ups or “influential military establishment and this act of forcibly deportation would further damage image of the country,” He recalled that earlier (in 2023) Pakistan had sent back (deported) lakhs of people, which caused hardships to Taliban government. At the moment, the Afghanistan government is in lack of infrastructures, resources and others, therefore, the federal government must review this decision.

Gandhapur said Afghans deserve Pakistani nationalities as almost all of its populace born and grown here and they are qualifying due criteria

Even Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandhapur has criticized the federal government for making more strict and hard the citizenship law, saying it is more hard compared to US, European and other developed countries. “Afghans deserve Pakistani nationalities as almost all of its populace born and grown here and they are qualifying due criteria.” Gandhapur believes that enmity or confrontation with Afghanistan is not in benefit of Pakistan, especially for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and its people. He in this respect also showed severe concern over prolonged closure of Torkham which ultimately affected no other than people from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Regarding Khyber Pakhtunkhwa initiatives for dialogues with Emirate Islami Afghanistan on the issue of militancy ( banned TTP), bilateral relations and others, Chief Minister Gandha Pur said, “we have  already sent Terms Of References (TORs) to federal government but it didn’t responding.” “ Solution to all such issues, especially violence and terror rests in talks and dialogues,” he remarked and recalled the era of Imran Khan from 2018 till 2023, which remained very peaceful compared to present days and past.” He questioned outcomes of military operations against terror and militancy saying all such acts and actions lead to further complications and intensifying of the situation.

Pakistan since September 2023 last worked on evacuation of Afghans lacking what the authorities called lacking documents validating their stay. So far over 800,000 people have been sent back to Afghanistan whereas now all those who are in possession of Afghan Citizen Cards ( ACC’s- issued by Pakistan ) have been directed to leave by March 31st 2025 otherwise after that they will be picked and later will be deported to Afghanistan. The Afghans who are in possession of Proof Of Registration ( POR issued to them jointly by UNHCR and Pakistan through its NADRA) are allowed to remain till June 30th 2025.

Data reveal that so far 2.6 million Afghans are residing in Pakistan. According to UNHCR, the strength of Afghans with possession of POR cards are 13,44,584 and ACC are 9,98,425. It further informs that after the empowering of Taliban in August 2021, 490,000 people slipped into Pakistan and majority of them have made routes towards western world but still 210,000 of them are staying in Islamabad and other main cities.

Continue Reading

MOST READ

Turkey