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Analysis: US removal of Sirajuddin Haqqani’s $10 million bounty signals engagement with the Taliban
With the return of former American Ambassador to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalizad to negotiations in Afghanistan and the Trump administration’s decision to remove Sirajuddin Haqqani’s bounty, the Trump administration may be continuing its previous policy of engagement with the Taliban.
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Analysis: The “bonds are close” as the Pakistani Taliban benefits from its Afghan safe haven
The United Nations Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team reports that “the bonds are close” between the Afghan Taliban and the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan. The Pakistani Taliban trains at Al Qaeda camps and has received high-tech weapons systems from the Afghan Taliban
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Analysis: Taliban leader Sirajuddin Haqqani becomes a statesman
After meeting the ruler of the UAE, Sirajuddin Haqqani traveled to Saudi Arabia to attend the Hajj. His travel was approved by the international community. Official recognition is almost certainly to follow.
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Al Qaeda leaders are prominently serving in Taliban government
Three prominent dual hatted Taliban and Al Qaeda leaders serve in key positions within the Taliban establishment, according to the United Nationals Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team. The Taliban is providing Al Qaeda with key support, including “welfare payments” and passports.
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Taliban names former Guantanamo detainee deputy interior minister
Mohammad Nabi Omari was one of the notorious “Gitmo Five” detainees who were freed in exchange for Bowe Bergdahl. His appointment highlights Sirajuddin’s consolidation of power in Afghanistan’s interior ministry.
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U.S. frees Taliban narcotics kingpin in exchange for Navy veteran
The Taliban released Mark Frerichs, an American veteran who has been held hostage since early 2020, in exchange for Haji Bashir Noorzai, a convicted Taliban drug kingpin who was serving a life sentence for smuggling heroin into the United States.
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Taliban circulates video of Haqqanis plotting 2010 suicide raid against U.S. troops
Sirajuddin Haqqani, who at the time was the operational commander of the Haqqani Network, was joined by his brother Badruddin Haqqani, Qari Zakir, the Taliban’s chief of suicide bombers, Mullah Sangeen Zadran, a dangerous Haqqani leader, and Ghani Muhammad, an Al Qaeda-linked military commander based in Pakistan, in the video. They give a send off to the suicide assault team that attacked Forward Operating Base Fenty on Nov. 12, 2010.
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Senior Pakistani Taliban leader reportedly killed in Afghanistan
Jamaat-ul-Ahrar and Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan leader Omar Khalid Khurasani, who is believed to have given sanctuary to Ayman al Zawahiri in the past, has called for global jihad, attacks on the US, and the establishment of the caliphate, and celebrated the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the U.S. He is reported to have been killed in a district in Afghansitan that has hosted an Al Qaeda training camp in the past.
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Generation Jihad Ep. 75 — Zawahiri is dead. Al Qaeda is not.
Edmund Fitton-Brown — outgoing coordinator of the UN Security Council Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring team and longtime friend of the show — joins Bill to discuss the killing of Al Qaeda emir Ayman Zawahiri, who died in a U.S. drone strike last Sunday.
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Afghan Taliban brokers ceasefire between Pakistan and TTP
The Haqqani Network, an integral part of the Taliban whose leader, Sirajuddin Haqqani, is the Taliban’s deputy emir and minister of the interior, is reported to have facilitated the negotiations.
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U.S. offers $10 million reward for leader of Islamic State Khorasan Province
Sanaullah Ghafar, who is also known as Shabab al-Muhajir, has been identified as an “ambitious new leader” of the Islamic State Khorasan Province. His challenge is to hold off the vastly superior Taliban, which controls Afghanistan.
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Top Haqqani Network leader named Taliban governor of Logar
Haji Mali Khan was a top Haqqani Network and Taliban leader when he was detained by the U.S. in 2011. He was freed in 2019 in exchange for a U.S. and an Australian professor who were kidnapped in Kabul in 2016.
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Taliban’s deputy emir issues guidance for governance in newly seized territory
In a message posted this week, Sirajuddin Haqqani provides guidance to the Taliban’s officials as they prepare to rule over newly seized territory. Haqqani explains that the campaign is evolving from a “military and jihadi” one into a “civilian situation,” meaning the Taliban is preparing to govern throughout much of the country.
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U.N. report cites new intelligence on Haqqanis’ close ties to al Qaeda
A report by a U.N. monitoring team cites new intelligence concerning Sirajuddin Haqqani’s ties to al Qaeda. The report also mentions the Hattin Shura, which U.S. officials say is the most important decision-making body within al Qaeda.
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Ep. 50 — The Unknowns
Hosts Tom Joscelyn and Bill Roggio discuss the basic epistemological problems that plague analyses of al Qaeda nearly 20 years after 9/11. Powered by RedCircle Take a look around the globe today and you’ll see jihadists fighting everywhere from West Africa to Southeast Asia. They aren’t the dominant force in all of those areas, or even most of them. But jihadism has mushroomed into a worldwide movement, with al-Qaeda, the Taliban, ISIS and other groups waging guerrilla warfare and launching terrorist attacks on a regular basis. Each week Generation Jihad brings you a new story focusing on jihadism around the…
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Taliban’s deputy leader stresses importance of judges in the Islamic emirate
In a newly released message, Sirajuddin Haqqani discusses the importance of the Taliban’s judges in the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. Haqqani is preparing his men to rule over more territory in Afghanistan.
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Anas Haqqani extols virtues of his ‘Legendary Father’ on Taliban’s official website
Anas Haqqani’s paean to his father is further evidence that he holds an important position in the Taliban.
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Pakistan a ‘safe haven’ for ‘terror groups’: U.S. State Department
Pakistan remains a “safe haven” for a host of regional terror groups, including the Afghan Taliban and its integral subgroup, the Al Qaeda linked Haqqani Network, according the the State Department’s newly released Country Reports on Terrorism 2019.
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In tribute to Hakeemullah Mehsud, TTP exposes ties to Afghan Taliban, Al Qaeda
The Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan highlights the often overlooked relationship between the Afghan Taliban, its Pakistani brothers, and al Qaeda, and Pakistan’s complicity in propping up terror networks.
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Taliban touts more elite ‘Red Unit’ fighter training on social media
The Taliban again highlighted the Red Unit, the group’s special operations unit that spearheads its assaults throughout Afghanistan.
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What you won’t learn from the NYT op-ed by the Taliban’s deputy leader
The author is a designated terrorist closely allied with al Qaeda. That’s not mentioned. Neither is al Qaeda.
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Taliban kidnaps American citizen as U.S. presses for ‘peace’
The kidnapping took place less than three months after the Taliban and the U.S. conducted a prisoner exchange that freed three senior Haqqani Network leaders and two America professors. The Haqqani Network is thought to be behind the latest kidnapping.
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3 senior Haqqani Network leaders to be freed in prisoner exchange
In exchange for two kidnapped U.S. and Australian professors, the Afghan government freed dangerous Taliban and Haqqani Network leaders Haji Malik Khan, Anas Haqqani, and Qari Abdul Rasheed Omari.
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UN Security Council continues to report on al Qaeda-Taliban alliance
Since July 2018, the UN Security Council has published at least four reports documenting al Qaeda’s close and longstanding relationship with the Taliban.
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Trump caves to Pakistan on Afghanistan
Trump’s acquiescence to Pakistan, which has backed the Taliban’s deadly insurgency in Afghanistan, occurs less than two years after he accused Pakistan of providing “safe haven to agents of chaos, violence, and terror”. Trump also said Pakistan returned billions of dollars in US aid with “nothing but lies & deceit.”
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Al Qaeda growing stronger under Taliban’s umbrella, UN finds
According to a recently released report by a UN Security Council monitoring team, the Taliban is the “primary partner for all foreign terrorist groups operating in Afghanistan,” including al Qaeda. The only exception is the Islamic State, which opposes the Taliban.
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Ayman al-Zawahiri eulogizes Jalaluddin Haqqani
Ayman al-Zawahiri has released a eulogy for Jalaluddin Haqqani, a key figure in the Taliban-al Qaeda axis. The Taliban announced Haqqani’s death last year. Zawahiri offers his condolences to the Taliban and its overall leader, the “Emir of the Faithful,” Hibatallah Akhundzada.
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UN: Al Qaeda continues to view Afghanistan as a ‘safe haven’
According to the UN’s Jan. 2019 assessment, al Qaeda’s relationship with the Taliban is “long-standing” and “strong.” And al Qaeda “continues to see Afghanistan as a safe haven for its leadership.” The UN estimates that the Islamic State has several thousand fighters in Afghanistan as well.
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Global jihadists eulogize Jalaluddin Haqqani in Taliban video
A Taliban video eulogy for Jalaluddin Haqqani includes praise from three jihadists based in the UK and Syria: Hani al-Sibai, Dr. Abdullah al-Muhaysini and Sheikh Muslih al-Ulyani. Sibai is a well-known, pro-al Qaeda ideologue living in the UK. Muhaysini is a US-designated terrorist. Both Muhaysini and Ulyani operate in Syria.
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Taliban, Pakistani military mourn death of extremist cleric
The Afghan Taliban, Pakistani Taliban and Pakistani military have all honored Maulana Sami ul-Haq, a influential and radical cleric who was stabbed to death. Haq’s madrassa has been a breeding ground for the Taliban and other jihadist groups in the region.
