Jalaluddin Haqqani

Mawlawi Jalaluddin Haqqani (1939 – 3 September 2018)[1] was an Afghan militant. He was the leader of the Haqqani network, a fighting group in guerilla warfare against US-led NATO forces.

By 2004, he was directing pro-Taliban militants to launch a holy war in Afghanistan. Within Pakistan, Jalaluddin had a relation with Pakistan but he did not act against the TTP. He was the most experienced Islamist leader in the region.[2] Steve Coll, author of Ghost Wars, claims that Haqqani introduced suicide bombing in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region.[3][4]

On 3 September 2018, the Taliban released a statement via Twitter saying that Haqqani died from a terminal illness in his late 70s.[5][6]

References

  1. Vahid Brown, Don Rassler,Fountainhead of Jihad: The Haqqani Nexus, 1973-2012, Oxford University Press, 2013 p.28.
  2. Syed Salaam Shahzad (5 May 2004). Through the eyes of the Taliban. Asia Times. http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/FE05Ag02.html. Retrieved 10 February 2009. 
  3. Return of the Taliban, PBS Frontline, 3 October 2006
  4. A. Gopal, Who are the Taliban? in: Nation, Volume: 287 Issue: 21 (22 December 2008) p20
  5. "Haqqani network's founder dies after long illness, Afghan Taliban says", by Alexander Smith and Mushtaq Yusufzai, NBC News
  6. "{title}". Archived from the original on 4 September 2018. Retrieved 4 September 2018.