US drops bounties on key Taliban leaders

The United States has removed multi-million dollar bounties on senior members of the Haqqani network, including one on the group's leader, Sirajuddin Haqqani. Sirajuddin Haqqani also serves as the Interior Minister in the Taliban government. This move is significant, considering the Haqqani network has been accused of launching some of the most high-profile and deadly attacks against the US and Indian embassies, as well as NATO forces, during the US-led war in Afghanistan.

Currently, the Haqqani network is a crucial component of the Taliban government. The Taliban has controlled Afghanistan since foreign forces withdrew from the country in 2021. This followed an agreement between the US and the Taliban during President Trump's first term. The removal of the bounties comes weeks before the end of President Trump's second term and days after US officials met with the Taliban government in Kabul to secure the release of an American tourist detained since 2022.

A US State Department spokesperson confirmed to the BBC that "there are currently no rewards for Sirajuddin Haqqani, his brother Abdul Aziz Haqqani, and his brother-in-law Yahya Haqqani," but they remain "Specially Designated Global Terrorists, and the Haqqani Network remains designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization." The FBI webpage on Monday showed a $10 million reward for Sirajuddin Haqqani, but it has now been updated to remove the bounty.

Taliban Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul Mateen Qani told the BBC that the removal of the bounties was "a result of the continuous diplomatic efforts" of his government. "This is a good step, it shows a new interaction between us and the world, especially with America. They (the US delegation) told us that they want to increase positive interaction and confidence-building between us," he added. Last Saturday, a US delegation, including hostage affairs envoy Adam Boehler and former Afghanistan envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, met with Taliban government Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi and other Taliban officials in Kabul. Subsequently, US citizen George Glezman, who was detained in December 2022 while visiting Afghanistan as a tourist, was released by the Taliban government.

It remains unclear whether the removal of the bounties was part of the negotiations. The Haqqani network was founded in the 1980s by Sirajuddin Haqqani's father, Jalaluddin Haqqani, initially as a CIA-backed organization operating against the Soviets in Afghanistan and Pakistan. However, it gradually evolved into one of the most feared anti-Western militant groups in the region. The group allied itself with the Taliban when the Taliban first came to power in Afghanistan in 1996. Jalaluddin Haqqani died in 2018 after a long illness.

Currently, Sirajuddin Haqqani is emerging as a power center within the Afghan Taliban government, as rifts deepen between him and the Taliban's supreme leader, Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada. Members of the Taliban government told the BBC that the issue of women's education is a key point of contention between the two. The Haqqani family has been trying to portray itself as more moderate, thereby gaining support among nationals frustrated with the supreme leader's uncompromising stance on women's education.

The US government's move to remove the bounties demonstrates its growing status in the international community, with some members of the international community eager to engage with the Taliban.