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Saudi Gazette
23-03-2025
- Politics
- Saudi Gazette
US lifts bounties on senior Taliban figures including interior minister Sirajuddin Haqqani
KABUL — The United States has lifted bounties on three senior Taliban officials, including Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani, who also leads the Haqqani network, a group long blamed for deadly attacks against Afghanistan's former Western-backed government, Afghan officials said Sunday. Haqqani, who previously admitted to orchestrating the 2008 attack on Kabul's Serena Hotel that killed six people, including American citizen Thor David Hesla, no longer appears on the U.S. State Department's Rewards for Justice website. According to Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul Mateen Qani, the U.S. government revoked the bounties on Sirajuddin Haqqani, Abdul Aziz Haqqani, and Yahya Haqqani. 'These three individuals are two brothers and one paternal cousin,' he told The Associated Press. The Haqqani network, originally founded by Jalaluddin Haqqani, rose to prominence as one of the most lethal arms of the Taliban following the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. The group has been linked to a series of high-profile attacks on the Indian and U.S. embassies, the Afghan presidency, and other targets, and has also been accused of engaging in extortion, kidnappings, and other criminal activities. Zakir Jalaly, a Foreign Ministry official in Kabul, said the U.S. decision to lift the bounties — coming just days after the release of American prisoner George Glezmann — signaled a thaw in bilateral relations. 'Both sides are moving beyond the effects of the wartime phase and taking constructive steps to pave the way for progress,' Jalaly said. 'The recent developments in Afghanistan-U.S. relations are a good example of pragmatic and realistic engagement.' Shafi Azam, another official, welcomed the move as the beginning of normalization, noting the Taliban's recent assertion of control over Afghanistan's embassy in Norway as further evidence of diplomatic progress. Since taking power in August 2021, the Taliban have struggled with global isolation, worsened by their sweeping restrictions on women and girls. Only a few countries, including China and Qatar, have formally or informally engaged with the Taliban diplomatically. The U.S. has also maintained indirect channels of communication. Despite being under United Nations sanctions since 2007, Sirajuddin Haqqani has traveled internationally in the past year. These trips, made with U.N. clearance, were his first abroad since the Taliban's return to power. Haqqani has also voiced rare public criticism of the Taliban's decision-making process, highlighting internal divisions within the group's leadership. — Agencies
Yahoo
23-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Top Asian News 5:46 a.m. GMT
The US lifts bounties on senior Taliban officials, including Sirajuddin Haqqani, says Kabul The U.S. has lifted bounties on three senior Taliban figures, including the interior minister who also heads a powerful network blamed for bloody attacks against Afghanistan's former Western-backed government, officials in Kabul said Sunday. Sirajuddin Haqqani, who acknowledged planning a January 2008 attack on the Serena Hotel in Kabul, which killed six people, including U.S. citizen Thor David Hesla, no longer appears on the State Department's Rewards for Justice website. The FBI website on Sunday still featured a wanted poster for him. Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul Mateen Qani said the U.S. government had revoked the bounties placed on Haqqani, Abdul Aziz Haqqani, and Yahya Haqqani.
Arab News
31-01-2025
- Business
- Arab News
The Taliban take over Afghanistan's only luxury hotel, more than a decade after attacking it
The Taliban are taking over the operations of Afghanistan's only luxury hotel in Kabul, more than a decade after they launched a deadly attack there that killed nine Serena Hotel said Friday it was closing its operations in the Afghan capital on Feb. 1, with the Hotel State Owned Corporation taking over. The corporation is overseen by the finance finance ministry wasn't immediately available for comment. Neither the Serena nor the government clarified the terms under which the hotel was changing Taliban first targeted the Serena in 2008 and again in 2014. Acting Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani acknowledged planning the 2008 attack, which killed eight, including US citizen Thor David Hesla.A statement from the Serena, a brand owned by the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development, said it had trained thousands of Afghan nationals, hosted large numbers of foreign guests and delegations, and set high international benchmarks in hospitality asked people to direct their queries to the Hotel State Owned Corporation. Kabul no longer appears as a destination on the Serena to information on the finance ministry website, the corporation's mission is to revive and develop Afghanistan's hotel industry. It operates three other hotels in Afghanistan, two in Kabul and one in the eastern city of official Mohammad Saeed told The Associated Press last year that he wanted Afghanistan to become a tourism that time, in a sign the country was preparing for more overseas visitors, the Serena reopened its women's spa and salon for foreign females after a monthslong closure, only to shut them again under pressure from Taliban have barred women from gyms, public spaces including parks, and education. Last year, they ordered the closure of beauty salons, allegedly because they offered services forbidden by Islam.
The Independent
31-01-2025
- Business
- The Independent
The Taliban take over Afghanistan's only luxury hotel, more than a decade after attacking it
The Taliban are taking over the operations of Afghanistan's only luxury hotel in Kabul, more than a decade after they launched a deadly attack there that killed nine people. The Serena Hotel said Friday it was closing its operations in the Afghan capital on Feb. 1, with the Hotel State Owned Corporation taking over. The corporation is overseen by the finance ministry. The finance ministry wasn't immediately available for comment. Neither the Serena nor the government clarified the terms under which the hotel was changing hands. The Taliban first targeted the Serena in 2008 and again in 2014. Acting Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani acknowledged planning the 2008 attack, which killed eight, including U.S. citizen Thor David Hesla. A statement from the Serena, a brand owned by the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development, said it had trained thousands of Afghan nationals, hosted large numbers of foreign guests and delegations, and set high international benchmarks in hospitality standards. It asked people to direct their queries to the Hotel State Owned Corporation. Kabul no longer appears as a destination on the Serena website. According to information on the finance ministry website, the corporation's mission is to revive and develop Afghanistan's hotel industry. It operates three other hotels in Afghanistan, two in Kabul and one in the eastern city of Nangarhar. Tourism official Mohammad Saeed told The Associated Press last year that he wanted Afghanistan to become a tourism powerhouse. At that time, in a sign the country was preparing for more overseas visitors, the Serena reopened its women's spa and salon for foreign females after a monthslong closure, only to shut them again under pressure from authorities. The Taliban have barred women from gyms, public spaces including parks, and education. Last year, they ordered the closure of beauty salons, allegedly because they offered services forbidden by Islam.
Yahoo
31-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
The Taliban take over Afghanistan's only luxury hotel, more than a decade after attacking it
The Taliban are taking over the operations of Afghanistan's only luxury hotel in Kabul, more than a decade after they launched a deadly attack there that killed nine people. The Serena Hotel said Friday it was closing its operations in the Afghan capital on Feb. 1, with the Hotel State Owned Corporation taking over. The corporation is overseen by the finance ministry. The finance ministry wasn't immediately available for comment. Neither the Serena nor the government clarified the terms under which the hotel was changing hands. See for yourself — The Yodel is the go-to source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories. By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. The Taliban first targeted the Serena in 2008 and again in 2014. Acting Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani acknowledged planning the 2008 attack, which killed eight, including U.S. citizen Thor David Hesla. A statement from the Serena, a brand owned by the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development, said it had trained thousands of Afghan nationals, hosted large numbers of foreign guests and delegations, and set high international benchmarks in hospitality standards. It asked people to direct their queries to the Hotel State Owned Corporation. Kabul no longer appears as a destination on the Serena website. According to information on the finance ministry website, the corporation's mission is to revive and develop Afghanistan's hotel industry. It operates three other hotels in Afghanistan, two in Kabul and one in the eastern city of Nangarhar. Tourism official Mohammad Saeed told The Associated Press last year that he wanted Afghanistan to become a tourism powerhouse. At that time, in a sign the country was preparing for more overseas visitors, the Serena reopened its women's spa and salon for foreign females after a monthslong closure, only to shut them again under pressure from authorities. The Taliban have barred women from gyms, public spaces including parks, and education. Last year, they ordered the closure of beauty salons, allegedly because they offered services forbidden by Islam.
