The Taliban Emirate of Afghanistan has appointed Sirajuddin (Siraj) Haqqani as interior minister. Leader of the Haqqani Network, Haqqani is a devoted U.S. enemy and a close friend of al Qaeda.
Evincing as much, Haqqani has a $5 million U.S. bounty on his head and is responsible for a blood feud with the CIA.
His appointment suggests that the Biden administration might need to reconsider its suggestion that the Taliban will prevent al Qaeda from re-establishing a safe haven. The interior minister is responsible for supervising domestic law enforcement and counterterrorism efforts. Haqqani will be perfectly placed to support those responsible for the 9/11 attacks.
Still, this appointment is unsurprising. Suspicions have been growing for more than a week that Haqqani would take up the interior minister position. This weekend’s visit to Kabul by Pakistan’s powerful ISI intelligence chief, Faiz Hameed, was a further signal of Haqqani’s prospects. A patron and effective executive board member of the Haqqani Network, the ISI has used the Haqqanis to counterbalance other jihadist groups, to influence the Taliban, and to leverage terrorist and insurgent pressure against the U.S. and the former Afghan government.
Pakistan will be telling Washington that Haqqani’s ministerial position gives Islamabad influence to ensure that al Qaeda will be constrained. But that’s a shallow lie. Pakistan’s influence over Haqqani is not absolute. And like the Taliban more generally, his life’s work suggests a deep respect for the jihadist ideology that sustains al Qaeda. The Haqqani network and al Qaeda have not cooperated so closely simply to annoy America. They are blood brothers and soul mates. Islamabad will leverage what influence it does have over Haqqani to extract financial aid packages from Washington. In short, it will engage in extortion. But this is ISI extortion carrying a not-so-subtle one fingered salute to the CIA’s memorial wall. At least in regard to its dealings with Islamabad, the U.S. should not stand for it.
This new reality is poorly timed. Biden might waffle about the mirage that is his “over the horizon” counterterrorism capability in Afghanistan. But 20 years after the 9/11 attacks, Haqqani’s ministry means that al Qaeda has a close friend at the heart of power.
