The Haqqani Network: a Foreign Terrorist Organization

The Haqqani Network is the most lethal terrorist network operating in in Afghanistan. It has been linked to several of the most high-profile attacks on U.S. and foreign personnel and is responsible for most spectacular attacks and high level assassinations in Kabul and northern Afghanistan. Formerly led by aging patriarch Jalaluddin Haqqani, the Haqqani Network is currently run by his sons, Sirajuddin, Badruddin and Nasiruddin and their uncle, Ibrahim.

In late August, news reports surfaced that Badruddin, the day to day operational commander of the network was killed in a drone strike in North Waziristan. Badruddin’s death will seriously alter the day to day efficacy of the network’s strategic and operational capabilities. However, his death will not have a serious effect on the network’s financial empire, which will ultimately give the network an opportunity to regenerate an operational replacement.

The network also includes many family members living abroad, from Pakistan to the Persian Gulf. Under the leadership of Jalaluddin’s sons, the network operates out of a support zone in North Waziristan, Pakistan, opposite Afghanistan’s eastern border in the provinces of Khost, Paktia and Paktika.