KABUL (SW) – The Taliban has demanded the US to lift the ban on blacklisted Haqqani group members of the movement in Afghanistan.
Reacting to the inclusion of Sirajuddin Haqqani, the group’s acting interior minister, and his family members on the US blacklist, the Taliban dubbed it as a violation of the Doha Peace Accords.
A statement issued by Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesman for the Taliban’s Ministry of Information and Culture, said today that some members of the interim Taliban cabinet, including members of the family of Jalaluddin Haqqani, the former head of the Haqqani network, have been present.
Meanwhile, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has recently increased the reward for arresting or tracking Sirajuddin Haqqani from $ 5 million to $ 10 million. The Taliban called the US decision a “clear violation” of the Doha agreement and said it was not in the interests of either side.
According to the Taliban statement, the Haqqani family is a part of the Taliban and has no separate name or composition. The statement said the family was, without exception, part of a Taliban agreement with the United States that their letters should be removed from the US and UN blacklists.
The Taliban have said that this has not been done yet.
The Taliban spokesman said they condemn “interference and reactionary views” by the US and other countries in Afghanistan’s internal affairs.
Sirajuddin Haqqani, who is on the US Federal Reserve’s blacklist, has been the Taliban’s deputy for five years. In addition, a number of other members of the Haqqani family are on the US sanctions list.
ENDS
