Anas Haqqani (Pashto: انس حقانی [aˈnas haqɑˈni]; born c. 1994) is a leader of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, the Taliban movement and was also a member of the Taliban's negotiation team in its political office in Doha, Qatar.
Anas Haqqani | |
|---|---|
| Haqqani | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1994 (age 27–28) |
| Nationality | Afghan |
| Political party | Taliban |
| Relations | Jalaluddin Haqqani (father) Khalil Haqqani (uncle) Sirajuddin Haqqani (brother) |
| Religion | Islam |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan |
| Branch/service | Haqqani 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 Minister of Interior of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan .[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]
Anas is the son of Jalaluddin Haqqani, a Pashtun mujahid and military leader of pro-Taliban forces in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Through his Pashtun mother his only surviving brothers are Sirajuddin Haqqani and Abdul Aziz Haqqani, while his father’s second wife is an Arab from the UAE whose children live with her in her home country.[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]
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]
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]