Jalaluddin Haqqani is dead

Jalaluddin Haqqani, whose son Sirajuddin now heads the fearsome Haqqani group and is also the Taliban's deputy leader, died "after a long battle with illness", the Taliban have said in a statement. Jalaluddin "was from among the great distinguished Jihadi personalities of this era," the Taliban said in a statement posted on Twitter. This news brings before the Afghan watchers several images of one of the pupils of famous Darul Uloom Haqqania of Akhora Khattak who was an Afghan commander fighting the Soviet occupation of his country with the help of the US, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan in the 1980s. It was in the first quarter of 1991 that military detachments of several Mujahideen groups, from both Hekmatyar's HIA and its rival, the Khalis HI (both Mullah Omar and Haqqani belonged to Khalis HI), were organized under the field command of Jalaluddin Haqqani, who had gained a good combat reputation, and whose headquarters was at Miranshah, North Waziristan. Haqqani and his team were provided with American ammunition, including Stingers. This led to a friction between Haqqani and Hekmatyar but the former prevailed, albeit temporarily. It was Haqqani who ultimately and triumphantly announced the fall of Khost. In 1986, or five years earlier, much of the real fighting was confined to eastern provinces, parts of which were 'liberated zones'. The main fighting in the early part of the year centred around the Mujahideen base of Zhawar. No doubt, the dominant Mujahideen figure was Jalaluddin Haqqani, although Afghan government troops emerged victorious in this battle. It is true that Jalaluddin gained notoriety for his organisation and bravery, garnering attention from the CIA and a personal visit from US congressman Charlie Wilson. Like Ghulam Rasool Sayyaf, another key Mujahideen figure, he was a fluent Arabic speaker. Jalaluddin also fostered close ties with Arab jihadists, including Osama Bin Laden, who flocked to the region during the war. Later, Jalaluddin became a minister of border regions in the Taliban regime.
Be that as it may, it is a fact that the principal reason behind Pakistan-US and Pakistan-Afghanistan tensions is the Haqqani network which, according to both Washington and Kabul, has been provided sustenance and shelter by Islamabad. Although, Pakistan has repeatedly and forcefully rejected this charge, the US still appears to be deeply enamoured with the Haqqani network even after the Soviet defeat in the late 1980s and a protracted internecine Afghan civil war that eventually catapulted the Taliban into power in 1996. That is why the late Jalaluddin lost two of his 10 sons in a US drone strike while his third son was purportedly assassinated by US agents. His death may be of little or no significance insofar as Taliban-Haqqani strategic and battle plans are concerned because he was bed-ridden for a long time. His son Siraj seems to have effectively replaced him as the network's head. Jalaluddin was one of the principal Mujahideen figures responsible for the Soviet defeat and the withdrawal of the Red Army from Afghanistan in the late 1980s. It is interesting to note that three decades later, Siraj too is involved in a battle to expel foreign troops from his country. How ironic however it is that the present-day invader of his homeland happens to be a country that had planned and implemented the expulsion of Soviet troops in a war in which his father, the late Jalaluddin, emerged as its highly valuable asset and one of the most effective ammunition against the governments in Kabul and Moscow.