Fathers and sons

Media reports of the arrest of the son of the aging leader of the Haqqani network, Jalaluddin Haqqani, come at a time when there has been increased pressure from Washington on Islamabad to go after the North Waziristan-based group thought to be responsible for many of the attacks on US-led security forces in Afghanistan. Details coming in are sketchy, but it is thought the man detained is Nasiruddin Haqqani. Accounts as to where Nasiruddin is being held vary.

The Haqqani network marks the line of rift between Washington and Islamabad on policy against militancy. The Pakistani establishment had evolved a close working relationship with the network during the war against the Soviets in Afghanistan in the 1980s. The Haqqanis are said also to retain a friendship with Pakistan military elements and, unlike other Taliban or al Qaeda affiliated groups, choose not to launch attacks in Pakistan. Their assault on forces inside Afghanistan, however, has led to fervent demands that a military operation be conducted in North Waziristan. The Pakistan military has so far remained reluctant to venture into this territory.

It is possible that, recognising this, a direct bid to nab Haqqani was made from Afghanistan. The episode so far, like much of the war on terror, is locked in shadows. There have been suggestions that Nasiruddin had recently completed a visit to the Gulf to collect funds for the militant cause. This pipeline of money needs to be blocked off. It is now obvious the Haqqani network is in the centre of US and Afghan actions against terrorism. How this eventually latches in with Pakistan’s own efforts is something that will be closely watched over the coming days as more information begins to emerge about the arrest of a key Haqqani network leader.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 27^th, 2010.