Sirajuddin Haqqani

Haqqani has admitted planning the January 14, 2008 attack against the Serena Hotel in Kabul that killed six people, including American citizen Thor David Hesla.[8] Haqqani confessed his organization and direction of the planning of an attempt to assassinate Hamid Karzai, planned for April 2008.[4][8] His forces have been accused by coalition forces of carrying out the late December 2008 bombing in Kabul at a barracks near an elementary school that killed several schoolchildren, an Afghan soldier, and an Afghan guard; no coalition personnel were affected.

In November 2008, New York Times reporter David S. Rohde was kidnapped in Afghanistan. His initial captors are believed to have been solely interested in a ransom. Sirajuddin Haqqani is reported to have been Rohde's last captor prior to his escape.[14]

Several reports indicated that Haqqani was targeted in a massive U.S. drone attack on February 2, 2010,[15] but that he was not present in the area affected by the attack.[16]

In March 2010, Haqqani was described as one of the leaders on the "Taliban's Quetta Shura".[17] Sirajuddin Haqqani's deputy, Sangeen Zadran, was killed by a US drone strike on 5 September 2013.[18]

Haqqani was appointed the second deputy leader of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan by Leader Akhtar Mansour upon the latter's election on 29 July 2015. He was elevated to the position of first deputy leader when Hibatullah Akhundzada, who was the first deputy under Mansour, assumed the leadership on 25 May 2016.[19][20][21][22][23]

Jalaluddin Haqqani died in 2018 after a long illness and Sirajuddin became the leader of the Haqqani network, though Jalaluddin may have turned over operational control as early as 2008.[24][25][12]

On May 31, 2020, British Taliban expert Antonio Guistozzi told Foreign Policy that Sirajuddin Haqqani was infected with COVID-19, which resulted in him being absent from the group's leadership mix.[26]

When the Taliban retook control of the country in August 2021, the leader of the Islamic Emirate became Afghanistan's de facto ruler and head of state, and the deputy leader became the country's second-most-powerful position.[27][21][28] Haqqani was appointed the acting interior minister of Afghanistan in the Caretaker Cabinet of the Islamic Emirate on 7 September.[29]

Haqqani gave his first ever on-camera interview in May 2022, with Christiane Amanpour in Kabul. Following the interview, he was described by Amanpour as the "heir" to Akhundzada in his capacity as deputy leader and "the most powerful member, frankly, of the current government, and indeed in the Taliban movement" due to Akhundzada's isolation in Kandahar.[28] In the interview, Haqqani acknowledged concern by the international community over the treatment of women by the Taliban, and claimed women's rights would be respected, despite recent crackdowns, including an abrupt closure of secondary schools for girls and a decree requiring women to wear full-body coverings when in public. He claimed the schools would reopen once dress code issues were resolved, and said the veil decree was only advisory, despite evidence to the contrary. Haqqani also said the Taliban wants good relations with the United States and the international community, and no longer sees the U.S. as an enemy.[30][31][32][33]

In February 2023, Haqqani issued a rare rebuke of the government's hardline policies, which was widely interpreted as a criticism aimed at Akhundzada, who has governed in an increasingly autocratic and ultraconservative fashion. Speaking at a religious school in Khost Province, he said: "Monopolizing power and hurting the reputation of the entire system are not to our benefit... more responsibility has been placed on our shoulders and it requires patience and good behavior and engagement with the people." Government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid indirectly reacted by saying criticism of the emir should be made in private, without naming Haqqani.[34]