Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Sept 16: The much talked-about differences and heated arguments between the political leaders and the Haqqani Network in the Taliban top level is reported to have been “sorted out” at least for the time being with the militants blaming the “enemy propaganda” for such reports in the international media. According to Taliban sources in Kabul, the Taliban and the Haqqanis have “reached a consensus on government formation in Afghanistan.” The confirmation come amidst reports that Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, one of the top negotiator of the Doha peace deal with the US and named one of the deputy prime ministers in the Afghan “interim” government had left the war-torn nation after an argument over the current power structure with Anas Haqqani of the Haqqani Network.
Soon after the heat over the formation of the government died down, a representative of the United Nations met Afghanistan’s new interior minister Sirajuddin Haqqani, currently the head of the Haqqani Network who was for years was one of the world’s most wanted Islamist militants and is now part of the government. The meeting between Deborah Lyons, head of the UN mission in Afghanistan, and Haqqani focused on humanitarian assistance, Suhail Shaheen, a Taliban spokesman, said on Thursday.
“(Haqqani) stressed that UN personnel can conduct their work without any hurdle and deliver vital aid to the Afghan people,” he said. Afghanistan was already facing chronic poverty and drought but the situation has deteriorated since the Taliban took over last month with the disruption of aid, the departure of tens of thousands of people including government and aid workers and the collapse of much economic activity.
The sources close to Taliban said Baradar supporters and Haqqanis have sorted their differences and blamed “enemy propaganda” for the rumours.
Baradar and Anas Haqqani, both in separate videos, have talked about an Islamic country after the Taliban’s swift takeover in Afghanistan. The sources also said the Taliban waiting to form an inclusive government to meet the demands of the international community though such a formation seemed highly unlikely in near future.
Amid reports, Baradar — in his interview in Kandahar to local channels — has termed the news of his exit as propaganda and said he is fine and safe. It was reported in the international media earlier that an upset Baradar had left for Kandahar. Baradar was reportedly unhappy as the Doha team had promised inducting non-Taliban faces such as Hamid Karzai and Abdullah Abdullah in the interim government but the Haqqanis who wanted to enjoy all the spoils, opposed it.
Media had also reported that Taliban’s Doha team was upset with Pakistan for its interference in the Afghan government formation and ISI chief Faiz Hameed’s role in ensuring that major portfolios were assigned to the Haqqanis. Taliban spokesperson Suhail Shaheen had said the current government of Afghanistan was formed in an “urgency” to provide people with essential services. On Pakistan’s alleged role in government formation, Shaheen said, “We have relation with both neighbouring and regional countries. So, of course, we seek their cooperation in the construction of Afghanistan but that doesn’t mean their interference in our internal matters. That is not our policy, our policy is clear. Our issue will be sorted.”
Pakistan ISI’s Hameed had met the intelligence chiefs of Russia, China, Iran and Tajikistan on September 11 to brief them about the Taliban government in Afghanistan and the “new changing order” of the world. Pakistan also wanted to control Afghanistan’s economy after the country gained entry into the Afghan army as well as intelligence. On Thursday, Pakistan announced its economic plans for Afghanistan and has decided to conduct bilateral trade with the Taliban in Pakistani Rupees.
Lyons’ meeting with the Afghan interior minister came in the wake of the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres cautioning the world that Afghans were facing “perhaps their most perilous hour.” The UN mission in Afghanistan said in Wednesday meeting Lyons had stressed the “absolute necessity for all UN and humanitarian personnel in Afghanistan to be able to work without intimidation or obstruction to deliver vital aid and conduct work for Afghan people.”
The Taliban repeatedly targeted the United Nations during the two-decades-long US-led military mission in Afghanistan that ended last month with the rout of the Western-backed government by the Taliban. Besides the attack on the UN officials killing five of them in a guest house in Kabul in 2009, more recently gunmen attacked a UN compound in the city of Herat in July with rocket-propelled grenades killing a guard, while protesters in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif in 2011 killed seven UN staff.
The Haqqani network, a faction within the Taliban and for years based on the border with Pakistan, was held responsible for some of the worst militant attacks in Afghanistan during the Taliban insurgency. The United States designated the group a terrorist organisation in 2012, and Sirajuddin Haqqani is one of the FBI’s most wanted men with a reward of $10 million for information leading to his arrest.
US officials and members of the old US-backed Afghan government for years said the Haqqani network maintained ties with Al Qaeda. The Taliban, however, have promised not to let Afghanistan be used for militant attacks on other countries.