Islamabad bans Haqqani network Pakistan has outlawed the Taleban-linked Haqqani network, officials said on Friday, days after US Secretary of State John Kerry urged Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s government to fight groups that threaten Afghan, Indian and US interests. American officials blame high-profile attacks in Afghanistan on the powerful Haqqani network, which mainly operates out of Pakistan’s border areas, and say it has ties to the Pakistani state. Senior Pakistani government officials told Reuters a formal announcement of the ban would be made “within weeks.” “We have decided to ban the Haqqani network as a step in implementing the National Action Plan devised after the (Peshawar) school attack,” said a Cabinet member, referring to a massacre of 134 children by Taleban gunmen last month. “The military and the government are on the same page on how to tackle militancy. There is no more ‘good’ or ‘bad’ Taleban. “Kerry specifically pressed for action against the Haqqanis, including banning the group,” the official added. A second official, a minister who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed the decision to outlaw the Haqqani group.
Posted on: Sat, 17 Jan 2015 01:38:00 +0000