Anas Haqqani

Anas Haqqani (Pashto: انس حقانی [aˈnas haqɑˈni]; born c. 1994) is a leader of the Haqqani network, part of the Afghan Taliban movement, and was a member of the Taliban's negotiation team in its political office in Doha, Qatar.

Anas
Haqqani
Personal details
Born1994 (age 27–28)
NationalityAfghan
Political partyTaliban
RelationsJalaluddin Haqqani (father)
Khalil Haqqani (uncle)
Sirajuddin Haqqani (brother)
ReligionIslam
Military service
AllegianceIslamic Emirate of Afghanistan
Branch/serviceHaqqani network

He is the youngest son of fighter Jalaluddin Haqqani, who fought both the Soviets and the Americans, and a brother of Sirajuddin Haqqani, now the head of the Haqqani network.[1][2]

He has an interest in Pashto poetry, himself being a poet.[3]

American commentator Bill Roggio says he is a "key propagandist, fundraiser and ambassador for the Haqqanis", mainly in the Arab world.[4]

Early life and education

Anas is the son of Jalaluddin Haqqani, a Pashtun mujahid and military leader of pro-Taliban forces in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

His mother, an Arab Emirati woman, was the second wife of his father.[5]

He studied in a local school in North Waziristan, Pakistan, until the seventh grade, while also being homeschooled by his father in Islamic studies.[3]

He later did some short term courses in politics and computer science but had to stop his higher education when he was captured by the Americans.[6]

Detention

Haqqani was detained in Bahrain on 12 November 2014,[3] at the age of 20, when he was legally returning from visiting releasees from Guantanamo Bay detention camp at the Taliban's political office in Doha, Qatar. American forces arrested him and took him back to Qatar.[7][3]

After a day of interrogation he was transferred to Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan and held for nine months at the headquarters of the government intelligence agency, the National Directorate of Security. He was then imprisoned at Bagram prison. Haqqani said that he was detained to try to get the Taliban to hold peace talks with the Afghan government, when the Taliban wanted to negotiate with the US instead. He was twice sentenced to death while in prison.[3]

In defense of Anas, Afghan Taliban spokesperson Suhail Shaheen said he was a student and had nothing to do with the militancy.[7] He was released on 18 November 2019 in a prisoner exchange.[3]

Post-release

Haqqani went to Kabul after it fell to the Taliban in August 2021, as did his uncle Khalil Haqqani. Anas Haqqani said that representatives of the Haqqani family needed to be there to negate talk that the Taliban was disunited and factionalised and that the Haqqani network was not truly part of it.[3]

In August 2021, Haqqani and Ahmadullah Wasiq visited the Afghanistan Cricket Board. They met with cricket board officials and national players and assured them of all possible cooperation for the promotion of cricket.[8][9]

In September 2021, he received a lot of criticism for calling Mahmud of Ghazni a "renown Muslim warrior" for smashing the idols of Somnath.[10]

References
  1. "طالبان مذاکراتی ٹیم پنجابی میں کون کیا ہے؟". BBC News اردو.
  2. "Taliban commanders 'land in Qatar' as part of prisoner swap move".
  3. Kakar, Ahmed-Waleed (30 August 2021). "Taliban, the Next Generation". Newlines Magazine. Archived from the original on 2021-08-30.
  4. Alikozai, Hasib Danish; Mafton, Khalid (15 November 2019). "Apart Amid Uncertainty About Inmates Whereabouts". VOANews. Archived from the original on 2019-11-17.
  5. "What Is the Haqqani Network?". VOA.
  6. "Translation of the biographies of the Taleban negotiation team". Afghanistan Analysts Network. 21 September 2020.
  7. "طالبان کا شاعر کمانڈر انس حقانی". Independent Urdu. April 23, 2020.
  8. "Afghanistan's first Test against Australia still set for November". September 2021.
  9. "'We want good relations': Taliban says Afghanistan, Australia cricket Test to proceed".
  10. Krishnankutty, Pia (2021-10-06). "'Muslim warrior, smashed idol of Somnath': Taliban leader Anas Haqqani praises Mahmud Ghaznavi". ThePrint. Retrieved 2021-10-10.
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