US Drops Bounties on Top Afghan Taliban Officials
The United States has removed multimillion-dollar bounties on leaders of Afghanistan's feared Haqqani militant network, including the current Taliban interior minister, the State Department and the Taliban government said.
The Haqqani network was responsible for some of the deadliest attacks during the decades-long war in Afghanistan, AFP said.
The men remain on Washington's list of "specially designated global terrorists" but the bounty price has been scrapped.
Taliban interior ministry spokesman Abdul Mateen Qani told AFP that Washington had "cancelled rewards" for Sirajuddin Haqqani -- who also heads the Haqqani network -- as well as other key leaders, Abdul Aziz Haqqani and Yahya Haqqani.
Sirajuddin Haqqani had long been one of Washington's most important targets, with a $10 million bounty on his head.
The US State Department said that "the three persons named remain designated as Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs), and the Haqqani Network remains designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and a SDGT".
But while the wanted page remains active, the bounty on the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) website has been removed.
"It is the policy of the United States to consistently review and refine Rewards for Justice reward offers," a State Department spokesperson told AFP on Wednesday.
'Largely symbolic'
The bounty cancellation came days after the first visit by US officials to Afghanistan since President Donald Trump returned to office, and the announcement afterwards of the release of a US citizen by Taliban authorities.
US-based Afghan political analyst Abdul Wahed Faqiri told AFP that the bounty removal is likely "largely symbolic" but a way for the United States to "give credit to Sirajuddin Haqqani", seen as an emerging more moderate "alternative".
Media reports talk of increasing tensions between the "pragmatic" Haqqani figures and a more hardline circle around Taliban supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, who vie for influence within the government.
Despite the US bounty and international travel bans, Sirajuddin Haqqani has travelled outside Afghanistan multiple times since the Taliban government swept back to power in 2021.
The government in Kabul is not recognized by any country and has expressed hopes for "a new chapter" with Trump's administration.
Trump signed a peace deal with the Taliban during his first term in office, that paved the way for the US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 and their return to power.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Asharq Al-Awsat
2 hours ago
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Iran to Present a Counter-proposal to US in Nuclear Talks, Foreign Ministry Says
Iran will soon hand a counter-proposal in nuclear talks to the United States via Oman, Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on Monday, in response to a US offer that Tehran deems "unacceptable". Reuters previously reported that Tehran was drafting a negative response to the US proposal which was presented in late May. An Iranian diplomat said the US offer failed to resolve differences over uranium enrichment on Iranian soil, the shipment abroad of Iran's entire stockpile of highly enriched uranium and steps to lift US sanctions.
Asharq Al-Awsat
2 hours ago
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Tehran Urges Washington to Stop ‘Role-Sharing' with Israel
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has called on US President Donald Trump to 'change his approach' and stop 'coordinating roles' with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he hopes to reach a new nuclear deal with Tehran. In a speech opening the Iranian parliament's weekly session, Ghalibaf criticized a recent US proposal relayed via Oman - a key mediator in the indirect talks between Tehran and Washington - describing it as lacking substance and contradictory in its intent. While Iran has not yet issued an official response to the proposal, Ghalibaf made it clear that Tehran is dissatisfied. 'The American proposal doesn't even mention lifting sanctions,' Ghalibaf said. 'It clearly shows the contradictory behavior of the United States in the indirect negotiations.' He added: 'The delusional American president must realize that if he truly wants an agreement, he must change his approach, stop dividing roles with the Zionist regime, and abandon Netanyahu's failed talking points.' Ghalibaf reaffirmed Iran's commitment to the Strategic Action Law to Lift Sanctions, which was passed by the Iranian parliament at the end of Trump's first term in office, shortly after Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 presidential election. Under that law, Iran resumed uranium enrichment at 20% in January 2021 and activated advanced centrifuges at its Natanz nuclear facility. These steps came just weeks into Biden's presidency, as he unsuccessfully sought a return to the 2015 nuclear agreement. By February 2021, Tehran had suspended the Additional Protocol of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, significantly reducing its cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Then, in April of the same year, Iran raised its uranium enrichment level to 60% at Natanz and later resumed high-level enrichment at its deeply buried Fordow facility. 'We reaffirm, as clearly stated in the Strategic Action Law, that Iran is ready - in exchange for the lifting of sanctions and economic benefits while maintaining enrichment on its own soil - to take necessary steps to build trust and prove the peaceful nature of its nuclear activities,' Ghalibaf said. He stressed the need for Iran to rely on domestic capacities and improve the living and economic conditions of its people, saying this would pressure the 'arrogant American government' to lift sanctions as part of a mutually beneficial agreement. 'We have said it many times and repeat it again today: Solving the people's economic and livelihood problems through internal capabilities will force the US to accept a fair deal,' Ghalibaf concluded.
Asharq Al-Awsat
3 hours ago
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Protests Intensify in Los Angeles after Trump Deploys Hundreds of National Guard Troops
Tensions in Los Angeles escalated Sunday as thousands of protesters took to the streets in response to President Donald Trump's extraordinary deployment of the National Guard, blocking off a major freeway and setting self-driving cars on fire as law enforcement used tear gas, rubber bullets and flash bangs to control the crowd. Many protesters dispersed as evening fell and police declared an unlawful assembly, a precursor to officers moving in and making arrests of people who don't leave. Some of those remaining threw objects at police from behind a makeshift barrier that spanned the width of a street and others hurled chunks of concrete, rocks, electric scooters and fireworks at California Highway Patrol officers and their vehicles parked on the closed southbound 101 Freeway. Officers ran under an overpass to take cover. Sunday's protests in Los Angeles, a sprawling city of 4 million people, were centered in several blocks of downtown. It was the third and most intense day of demonstrations against Trump's immigration crackdown in the region, as the arrival of around 300 Guard troops spurred anger and fear among many residents. The Guard was deployed specifically to protect federal buildings, including the downtown detention center where protesters concentrated. Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said officers were "overwhelmed" by the remaining protesters. He said they included regular agitators who show up at demonstrations to cause trouble. Starting in the morning, the troops stood shoulder to shoulder, carrying long guns and riot shields as protesters shouted "shame" and "go home." After some closely approached the guard members, another set of uniformed officers advanced on the group, shooting smoke-filled canisters into the street. Minutes later, the Los Angeles Police Department fired rounds of crowd-control munitions to disperse the protesters, who they said were assembled unlawfully. Much of the group then moved to block traffic on the 101 freeway until state patrol officers cleared them from the roadway by late afternoon. Nearby, at least four self-driving Waymo cars were set on fire, sending large plumes of black smoke into the sky and exploding intermittently as the electric vehicles burned. By evening, police had issued an unlawful assembly order shutting down several blocks of downtown Los Angeles. Flash bangs echoed out every few seconds into the evening. Governor says Guard not needed Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom requested Trump remove the guard members in a letter Sunday afternoon, calling their deployment a "serious breach of state sovereignty." He was in Los Angeles meeting with local law enforcement and officials. The deployment appeared to be the first time in decades that a state's national guard was activated without a request from its governor, a significant escalation against those who have sought to hinder the administration's mass deportation efforts. Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass blamed the increasingly aggressive protests on Trump's decision to deploy the Guard, calling it a move designed to enflame tensions. They have both urged protesters to remain peaceful. "What we're seeing in Los Angeles is chaos that is provoked by the administration," she said in an afternoon press conference. "This is about another agenda, this isn't about public safety." But McDonnell, the LAPD chief, said the protests were following a similar pattern for episodes of civil unrest, with things ramping up in the second and third days. He pushed back against claims by the Trump administration that the LAPD had failed to help federal authorities when protests broke out Friday after a series of immigration raids. His department responded as quickly as it could, and had not been notified in advance of the raids and therefore was not pre-positioned for protests, he said. Newsom, meanwhile, has repeatedly said that California authorities had the situation under control. He mocked Trump for posting a congratulatory message to the Guard on social media before troops had even arrived in Los Angeles, and said on MSNBC that Trump never floated deploying the Guard during a Friday phone call. He called Trump a "stone cold liar." The admonishments did not deter the administration. "It's a bald-faced lie for Newsom to claim there was no problem in Los Angeles before President Trump got involved," White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement. Deployment follows days of protest The arrival of the National Guard followed two days of protests that began Friday in downtown Los Angeles before spreading on Saturday to Paramount, a heavily Latino city south of the city, and neighboring Compton. Federal agents arrested immigrants in LA's fashion district, in a Home Depot parking lot and at several other locations on Friday. The next day, they were staging at a Department of Homeland Security office near another Home Depot in Paramount, which drew out protesters who suspected another raid. Federal authorities later said there was no enforcement activity at that Home Depot. The weeklong tally of immigrant arrests in the LA area climbed above 100, federal authorities said. Many more were arrested while protesting, including a prominent union leader who was accused of impeding law enforcement. The protests did not reach the size of past demonstrations that brought the National Guard to Los Angeles, including the Watts and Rodney King riots, and the 2020 protests against police violence, in which Newsom requested the assistance of federal troops. The last time the National Guard was activated without a governor's permission was in 1965, when President Lyndon B. Johnson sent troops to protect a civil rights march in Alabama, according to the Brennan Center for Justice. Trump says there will be 'very strong law and order' In a directive Saturday, Trump invoked a legal provision allowing him to deploy federal service members when there is "a rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States." He said he had authorized the deployment of 2,000 members of the National Guard. Trump told reporters as he prepared to board Air Force One in Morristown, New Jersey, Sunday that there were "violent people" in Los Angeles "and they're not gonna get away with it." Asked if he planned to send US troops to Los Angeles, Trump replied: "We're gonna have troops everywhere. We're not going to let this happen to our country." He didn't elaborate. About 500 Marines stationed at Twentynine Palms, about 125 miles (200 kilometers) east of Los Angeles were in a "prepared to deploy status" Sunday afternoon, according to the US Northern Command.
