Khalil Haqqani, the Taliban’s refugee minister, has been killed in a suicide bombing in Kabul, marking the movement’s most high-profile casualty since their return to power in Afghanistan in 2021.
The attack occurred as Haqqani was leaving his office, with six others also losing their lives in the blast, according to sources from the interior ministry.
Haqqani was a prominent figure in the Haqqani network, a powerful faction within the Taliban, and had been designated a global terrorist by the United States.
The Taliban has blamed the Islamic State militants for the attack, although no group has immediately claimed responsibility.
Haqqani’s brother, Jalaluddin, was a renowned guerrilla leader who fought Soviet forces in the 1980s and founded the Haqqani network, which was responsible for numerous attacks during the Taliban’s 20-year insurgency.
His nephew, Sirajuddin Haqqani, who is also the interior minister in the Taliban government, is believed to be a key figure in the group’s operations.
Despite the Taliban’s control over Afghanistan since 2021, the country continues to experience bombings and suicide attacks.
Many of these attacks are attributed to the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), the regional affiliate of the Islamic State group, which remains a major adversary of the Taliban.
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