U.S. Ambassador To Pakistan Says the Haqqani Network Has Ties To Pakistani Government

The attack that took place in Kabul a few days ago, that was the work of the Haqqani Network: Munter.—AFP photo

This is a brave bombshell dropped by U.S. ambassador to Pakistan, Cameron Munter, when he states that there is a connection, an alliance, between the Haqqani Network and the Pakistani government. The Haqqani Network is a terror group headquartered in Pakistan that is closely aligned with the Taliban and has been responsible for some of the worst and most lethal attacks against U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan during the War in Afghanistan.

From the article at DAWN:

The US ambassador to Islamabad said in remarks broadcast Saturday that there is evidence linking the Haqqani insurgent network to the Pakistani government, a charge that could raise tensions in an already strained anti-terror alliance between Washington and Islamabad.

The US and Nato blame the Haqqani network for many of the attacks in Afghanistan, including this week’s strike on the US Embassy.

The group — affiliated with both the Taliban and al Qaeda — and its army of several thousand fighters is widely assumed to be based just over the Afghan border in Pakistan.

US officials have long suspected links between the Pakistan military and the Haqqani network.

But needing Pakistani cooperation to beat al Qaeda and stabilize Afghanistan, they rarely say so publicly and as directly as Ambassador Cameron Munter did in an interview with Radio Pakistan that was broadcast Saturday.

“The attack that took place in Kabul a few days ago, that was the work of the Haqqani Network,” Munter said during the interview.

“And the facts, that we have said in the past, (is) that there are problems, there is evidence linking the Haqqani network to the Pakistan government. This is something that must stop.”

I agree 100% with our ambassador on this and the best evidence I have ever had of this is simply the fact that the Pakistanis have refused to do anything about the North Waziristan agency. North Waziristan is the home to the Haqqani Network and quite literally, when the Pakistani military went on its gutting offensives against the Taliban, they hit every province and agency in NW Pakistan except one - you got it, North Waziristan. They even pummeled the Taliban in South Waziristan...but then they stopped. They had plenty of excuses for not going into North Waziristan but we are smarter than that - they have a secret alliance with the Haqqanis and thus far, the only hairs on any heads harmed in North Waziristan are those that have been hit by U.S. predator drone missiles.

Evidence ties Haqqani group to Pakistan: Munter


ISLAMABAD: The US ambassador to Islamabad said in remarks broadcast Saturday that there is evidence linking the Haqqani insurgent network to the Pakistani government, a charge that could raise tensions in an already strained anti-terror alliance between Washington and Islamabad.

The US and Nato blame the Haqqani network for many of the attacks in Afghanistan, including this week’s strike on the US Embassy.

The group — affiliated with both the Taliban and al Qaeda — and its army of several thousand fighters is widely assumed to be based just over the Afghan border in Pakistan.

US officials have long suspected links between the Pakistan military and the Haqqani network.

But needing Pakistani cooperation to beat al Qaeda and stabilize Afghanistan, they rarely say so publicly and as directly as Ambassador Cameron Munter did in an interview with Radio Pakistan that was broadcast Saturday.

“The attack that took place in Kabul a few days ago, that was the work of the Haqqani Network,” Munter said during the interview.

“And the facts, that we have said in the past, (is) that there are problems, there is evidence linking the Haqqani network to the Pakistan government. This is something that must stop.”

The army and the government were not available for comment.