The United States is to designate the Pakistan-based Haqqani network, accused of high-profile attacks in Afghanistan, as a terrorist organisation, secretary of state Hillary Clinton said yesterday, in a move that would trigger sanctions against the group and turn up the heat on Pakistan’s government.
The Haqqanis, a Pashtun tribe with strongholds in southeastern Afghanistan and across the border in Pakistan, have been blamed for an attack on the US embassy in Kabul and other high-profile assaults in Afghanistan.
The US accuses Pakistan’s intelligence agency of supporting the Haqqani network and using it as a proxy in Afghanistan to gain leverage against the growing influence of India.
Pakistan denies this. – (Reuters)