Afghan Biographies

Haqqani, Anas


Name Haqqani, Anas
Ethnic backgr. Pashtun
Date of birth 1994
Function/Grade Member of Taliban Negotiation team
History and Biodata

3. Biodata:

Anas Haqqani was born 1994. He is the youngest son of Jalaluddin Haqqani, the movement’s founder, rose through the ranks of the group after two of his brothers were killed, and was the second-in-command after his brother Sirajuddin Haqqani at the time of his arrest, according to Afghan officials. The officials said Anas Haqqani was in charge of fundraising for the network, which is partly financed by private donations from the Gulf. The Taliban disputed this description of the younger Haqqani, saying he played no formal role in the organization, and that he was a final-year student of religious studies. Anas Haqqani is the brother of Sirjuddin Haqqani, the head of the Haqqani Network. According to Afghan officials, Anas Haqqani is an information technology expert who played a key role in the network’s “strategic decision-making” and fundraising. Haji Milli Khan is the uncle of Anas Haqqani who was reportedly arrested by U.S. forces in eastern Paktika province in 2011.

Anas Haqqani and Hafiz Rashid, the two leaders of the Haqqani Network that were captured and were arrested outside of Afghanistan contrary to previous reports. A senior United States government official said the two men had been arrested in a Persian Gulf country and transferred into Afghan custody, and that the Afghan account was a smoke screen to hide the identity of the gulf country. Haqqani and Rashid were arrested on Oct. 12 in Bahrain by U.S. forces, and taken to Qatar and the United Arab Emirates before reaching Kabul. (20141021) The two men were traveling in the Persian Gulf to visit the brother of Hafiz Rashid, Nabi Omari, who was recently released from Guantanamo Bay prison in exchange for the only U.S. soldier in Taliban captivity. But he denied that U.S. forces had any role in the arrests, in contradiction of claims made by the Taliban last week. The two senior members of the Haqqani Network were arrested in Bahrain and then sent to Qatar. After Nabi Omari was exchanged for the U.S. soldier, he went to Qatar as well, which is why there was the rumor that the men had been arrested there as well. Anas was also known to travel in the Gulf in order to collect money for Haqqani fighters.
 

Nevertheless, the men have been transferred to Afghanistan and are in the custody of the National Directorate of Security (NDS). They are expected to be questioned and put on trial. Many experts have used the arrests as an opportunity to highlight Pakistan's role in backing groups like the Haqqani Network, which have been waging terrorist and insurgent warfare in Afghanistan for over a decade."It is clear to all that Pakistan always uses these terrorist groups to maintain their interests and they never want such men and members of the groups to be arrested or put on trial," political analyst Maya Gul Wasiq said. Sources have said that Hafiz Rashid had a Pakistani passport when he was arrested and that a Pakistani government representative tried to arrange for his release from the Afghan security forces. Rashid reportedly wanted to escape to Dubai but he was unable. "In the United Arabic Emirates, General Shuja Pasha made an effort to release Hafiz Rashid because he had a Pakistani passport," said Ahmad Sayidi, a former Afghan diplomat based in Pakistan. According to security experts, Rashid was the man who would oversee the preparation of suicide bombers bound for Afghanistan.
 

Anas Haqqani - Senior member of the network. He was "arrested" on October 15, 2014 by Afghan forces. Anas Haqqani has been sentenced to death by a primary court of Kabul on Monday, 05. Sep 2016. Sources within the Taliban ranks said that the youngest son of the feared Haqqani terror network’s founder is among hundreds of prisoners whom the Taliban is demanding be released as part of an upcoming round of talks with the United States.(20180916)
 

Taliban has asked for the release of Anas Haqqani after announcing a 14-member negotiating team ahead of peace talks later this month with the U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad. The list also includes Anas Haqqani,  – the brother of Sirajuddin Haqqani, leader of the Haqqani network – who is being held in Kabul. The rest members of Taliban’s negotiating team  include:  Mawlawi Zia-ur-Rahman Madani, Abdul Salam Hanafi, Shahabuddin Delawar, Mullah Abdul Latif Mansour, Mullah Abdul Manan Omari,  Mawlawi Amir Khan Mutaqi, Mullah Mohammad Fazel Mazlom, Mullah Khairullah Khairkhwa , Mawlawi Mati-ul-Haq, Mullah Noorullah Noori, Mawlawi Mohammad Nabi Omari  and Mullah Abdul Khaliq Wasiq.   This comes as the U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad is expected to hold another round of talks with the Taliban representatives in Qatar on February 25, 2019 as part of his fresh diplomatic efforts to reach into a political statement in Afghanistan.(20190212)
 

Anas Haqqani said this week that the Haqqani Network never existed. In 2014, when he was 20, Haqqani was arrested in Qatar, tried in Kabul and sentenced to death. The only reason he wasn’t ultimately executed was because China intervened with the government in Kabul at the request of Pakistan. In the end, Anas Haqqani was freed in a prisoner exchange. Haqqani said: “The so-called Haqqani network that the West keeps talking about never existed. This is pure propaganda by our enemies.

 

Haqqani said that he spent the first years of his life in Wazir Akhbar Khan in Kabul before his family, including his father Jalaluddin Haqqani, fled to Miranshah in Waziristan in Pakistan. He said contrary to popular belief, his father never invited Osama bin Laden to Afghanistan but stated they had known each other from the war against the Soviet Union. He reiterated that the Haqqanis had nothing to do with many of the attacks they were blamed for and said while both sides did fight “I myself never fought”.

On being arrested in Qatar, Haqqani said: “In 2014, I was arrested in Qatar on behalf of the then Kabul government and extradited to Afghanistan. This happened completely illegally.

“I was kept in solitary confinement for years in a tiny cell, first in an intelligence prison, then in Bagram. That was against all the laws and rules that prevailed in that country at that time as well.”

“I was really innocent, a young religious student in my eighth year. I was only on holiday in Qatar. There, I visited friends and relatives who had just been released from Guantanamo.


On the general amnesty, Haqqani said: “The amnesty applies to everyone, without exception, including the armed opposition. The head of the government of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, Emir Akhundzada Haibatullah, has ordered this. We therefore call on all Afghans to return to their home country.

“The leadership of the Emirate is very serious about the amnesty. Action will be taken against anyone who violates this general amnesty. They will be prosecuted and severely punished,” he said, adding that “the Emir has ordered the establishment of military courts. If you know of any examples of unjust persecution, please report them to us. There must be no revenge or reprisals against the representatives of the previous government.”

 

Haqqani also acknowledged that the Shia minority has long been targeted by extreme elements throughout the Middle East and Afghanistan. “The position of the Islamic Emirate against these elements is crystal clear:

“There is no truth to the allegations of the oppression of the Hazaras by the current government. Our government is very serious about any harassment or harm toward our Hazara brothers. Our government is not perfect. After so many years of war, there are problems between individuals. There are old scores that have been settled, family disputes.(20220710)



 

 

Last Modified 2022-07-10
Established 2018-09-16