The Afghan Taliban on Tuesday announced the death of Mawalawi Jalaluddin Haqqani, the founder of the Haqqani Network, AFP reported, quoting monitoring group SITE.
“It is with great regret that we inform our believing Mujahid Afghan nation and the vast Islamic Ummah that the prominent Jihadi figure, religious scholar, exemplary warrior and pioneer of celebrated Jihads; the Minister of Frontiers during the reign of Islamic Emirate and member of the Leadership Council, the esteemed Al-Haj Mawlawi Jalaluddin Haqqani has passed away after a long battle with illness,” the outfit said in a statement.
It added that Haqqani was ill and bed-ridden for the past few years. He “was from among the great distinguished Jihadi personalities of this era,” the Taliban said in the English version of its statement posted on Twitter.
Born in 1939 in Karezgay village of Afghanistan’s eastern Paktia Province, Haqqani founded the network during the anti-Soviet insurgency in the 1980s. He had close links with the intelligence agencies of Pakistan, United States and Saudi Arabia.
He also maintained ties with Arab mujahideen volunteers and al-Qaeda. The first al-Qaeda bases in Afghanistan were built on territory controlled by Haqqani.
Haqqani joined the Taliban government as minister for tribal affairs after they captured Kabul in 1996. He served in senior positions in the Taliban defence administration. After the militant group’s fall in 2001, he moved to the tribal areas along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. The Haqqani Network has been responsible for some of the deadliest attacks in Kabul in the current insurgency against NATO and the Afghan government.
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