“New game”

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has signed an order designating Pakistan-based Haqqani network a terror group. Nematullah Taneen and Noor Wali Sayed Shinwari interview political experts on what it means for Afghanistan.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has signed an order designating Pakistan-based Haqqani network a terror group. Nematullah Taneen and Noor Wali Sayed Shinwari interview political experts on what it means for Afghanistan.
The group, which is pro-Taleban and bitterly opposed to the presence of US forces in Afghanistan, has been behind some of the most audacious attacks including the assault on the Inter Continental Hotel in Kabul last year.
A Pentagon spokesman was quoted in the media saying the ban would “degrade the network’s capacity to carry out attacks, including affecting fund-raising abilities, targeting them with our (US) military and intelligence resources, and pressing Pakistan to take action.” The network, which is based in the tribal area of Waziristan, has close links to Pakistan’s shady Inter Services Intelligence (ISI).
Political experts ponder the question of whether the US decision to ostracise the Haqqani network will mean its eclipse. Asadullah Walwalji of the Truth and Justice Party told Killid that the network can never be a successor to the Taleban. “All terrorist groups are united and supervised by the ISI but they follow different tracks as per the wishes of the ISI.”
According to Walwalji, while the Haqqani are one of the most dangerous terror groups in the world, they are a “pawn on the chessboard”. “For Pakistan each (group) has specific and separate purpose. Each is a pawn on the chessboard,” he believes.
The US decision to blacklist the Haqqani network will clip its “legal image”. Henceforth the network can operate only clandestinely.
Will Pakistan crack down on the network? Walwalji thinks Islamabad will not want to lose the network so soon. “Haqqani network is more obedient to Pakistan than Taleban, and Pakistan is not in a position to end the war and let the network be cut off.”
Mohammad Jafar Kohistani, a lecturer of law and political science at Kabul University, does not think there is much difference between the Haqqani network and the Taleban. “They all drink water from the Pakistani jar. They are born from the ISI.” He thinks Pakistan and the US have started a “new game” in the US war on terror. When the Taleban are eliminated, the Haqqani bogey will be unleashed.