Counterterrorism Blog

To most Americans, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan is an inconsequential pile of rocks on the other side of the world - if they’ve even heard of it. But the FATA is where Al Qaeda was born 20 years ago amid the Soviet war next door in Afghanistan. Today, it’s the staging area for both a resurgent Al Qaeda and the Taliban waging war against American troops on the Afghan side of the border. On Sunday, we reported in the New York Daily News that white European Al Qaeda recruits have been spotted there recently. It's causing great concern among U.S. intelligence officers, because of the potential for these Anglo-looking operatives to exploit the Visa Waiver Program the U.S. shares with Europe.

The man who controls much of the FATA, as well as huge chunks of the provinces on the other side of the Durand Line inside Afghanistan, is Afghan warlord Jalaluddin Haqqani. I blogged about Haqqani recently in a post called, “Remember The Name of This U.S. Enemy.” We reported finding a recently updated United Nations document that seemed to add to speculation that the elderly Haqqani might have died, as the Afghan press has claimed. We also reported that the CIA unsuccessfully tried to woo their former ally Haqqani after the 9/11 attacks.

Now the U.S. military is fueling speculation the man responsible for so many G.I.s’ deaths may indeed have dropped dead.

Haqqani was a legendary - and CIA-supported - mujahideen commander of the Soviet war, a Pashtun tribal elder, a longtime friend and protector of Osama Bin Laden and now the chief strategist for the Taliban. In this war, Haqqani has been aided by his son Siraj, who introduced suicide bombings to his homeland. The U.S. military took another bizarre swipe at Siraj last weekend for his brutal tactics in a statement that raises questions about his father’s possible demise. Combined Joint Task Force-82 claimed that the younger Haqqani has “used his father’s name and reputation” and that he “differs vastly from his father in terms of tactics and allegiances.”

“Jalalludin [sic] Haqqani would not approve of Siraj’s motives or tactics. He will never reach the status of his father,” CJTF-82 spokesman Maj. Chris Belcher said in the statement.

Intelligence officials in Washington found the timing of the pronouncement bizarre, but said they have no reason to believe Jalaluddin Haqqani is dead or that he has completely given up his command of the Afghan insurgency. They also discounted a rumor that CIA officers laid eyes on Jalaluddin’s corpse. But, as the Wall Street Journal reported last month, rumors continue to fly that one or both Haqqanis are now interested in cutting a deal to cease hostilities - however unlikely that may be.

Hear that, Osama?