Taliban and Haqqani Network have close relationship despite State Department claiming otherwise
From www.washingtonexaminer.com
2021-08-28 00:56:07
Jerry Dunleavy
Excerpt:
The Taliban and the Haqqani Network are “separate entities,” the State Department insisted on Friday, arguing the United States providing information with the former did not mean it was doing the same with the latter.
Despite State’s denials there are strong links between the groups, Haqqanis even help fill the Taliban’s leadership ranks.
Ned Price, the State Department’s spokesman, was asked if U.S. coordination on security with the Taliban extended to the Haqqani Network, and he replied, “No, it does not. The Taliban and the Haqqani Network are separate entities.”
He went on to argue the U.S. had “developed and implemented effective tactics to be in a position to facilitate the safe passage of individuals to the Kabul airport” and that “the idea that we are providing names or personally identifiable information to the Taliban in a way that exposes anyone to additional risk — that is simply wrong.”