US wants Pak military action against Haqqani network in North Waziristan

KABUL - US Armed Services Committee Chairman, Carl Levin, has urged Pakistan to crack down on the Al-Qaeda-linked Haqqani network, which operates on both sides of the country’s border with Afghanistan.

Levin vowed to push to include the Haqqani network on the US terrorist blacklist, saying that the group would never make peace.

He also praised the Pakistan government for its help in fighting terrorism, and for taking on other militants such as the Pakistani Taliban.

He however believes that the country’s reluctance to push into the North Waziristan area run by the Haqqanis is hurting the war efforts in Afghanistan.

“They are not following through, and have not followed through, by going after one of the truly great threats that face us here in Afghanistan, which is the coming into Afghanistan from Pakistan of Haqqani fighters,” The Daily Times quoted Levin, as saying.

The Haqqani movement is led by veteran fighter Jalaluddin Haqqani, a legendary commander in the 1980s Afghan war against the Soviets.

The network, based in the North Waziristan’s tribal area along Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan, is thought to present one of the biggest threats to NATO and US forces in Afghanistan.

It maintains old links with Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Osama bin Laden, and Pakistan’s army has been reluctant to move against them.

Earlier, in 2006, Jalaluddin was called a ‘Pakistani asset’ by a senior ISI official. (ANI)