U.S. Hits Taliban. Al-Qaeda, Haqqani with Sanctions
The U.S. Treasury hit a "key" commander in the powerful Haqqani network with sanctions Thursday, raising pressure on Pakistan to do more against the Al-Qaeda and Taliban-linked group.
The Treasury said Abdul Aziz Abbasin, an Afghan native, was appointed by the Pakistan-based Haqqani group as "the Taliban shadow governor" in Orgun district of Afghanistan, aiding the fight against NATO coalition forces in the country.
It said Abbasin commands a group of Taliban fighters and has helped run a militant training camp.
U.S. officials have linked the Haqqani group to a recent attack on the U.S. embassy in Kabul, a truck bombing on a NATO outpost and a June attack on Kabul's InterContinental hotel.
Washington is currently weighing designating the network as a foreign terrorist organization, a U.S. official said Monday.
Four other figures with links to Taliban and Al-Qaeda activities in Afghanistan and Pakistan were also named Thursday's sanctions, which aim at putting pressure on financial links to the groups.
Treasury listed Afghanistan natives Hajji Faizullah Khan Noorzai and Hajji Malik Noorzai as Taliban financiers who held the militant group invest money in various businesses.
It also named Pakistan national Abdur Rehman, who operates a religious school in Karachi, as aiding the Taliban and Al-Qaeda logistically and financially.
The fifth person named was Fazal Rahim, called a financial facilitator for Al-Qaeda and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan.
It said Rahim had helped the IMU send foreign fighters to Pakistan for training.
"These financiers and facilitators provide the fuel for the Taliban, Haqqani Network and Al-Qaeda to realize their violent aspirations," Treasury undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence David Cohen said in a statement.
The sanctions come amid heightened U.S. criticism of Pakistan over its alleged tolerance and support for militant groups fighting the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan.
The outgoing top U.S. military officer Admiral Mike Mullen last week called the Haqqani network a "veritable arm" of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency.
On Tuesday White House spokesman Jay Carney said Pakistan needs to sever any possible links the government has with the group.
"The Haqqani network is responsible for attacks on the U.S. embassy in Kabul and on ISAF as well as some others," he said.
The group, based in Pakistan's north Waziristan frontier district, was founded by former CIA asset Jalaluddin Haqqani and is run by his son Sirajuddin.
Earlier Thursday Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani rebuffed the U.S. accusations.
"American statements shocked us, and negate our sacrifices and successes in the ongoing war against terror," he told a gathering of politicians and military commanders.
Source: Agence France Presse
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