No matter how hard Pakistan tries to distance itself from terrorist groups and its leaders, the truth remains that most of them live and do their planning right in the middle of Pakistan's largest cities.
One of the highest ranking Haqqani leaders, Nasiruddin Haqqani, has just been killed in the streets of Islamabad, gunned down as he walked in a residential area of the sprawling city. Three of his sons were also killed.
The Haqqani network is a supportive group to the Afghani Taliban and one of its most serious strategic minds. His network was more feared than the Taliban by US forces in Afghanistan.
The US had long accused the Pakistan secret service of aiding and abetting the powerful leader, even though there were always denials. But his death and his presence in Islamabad will reopen the discussion on the duplicitous nature of the secret service's alliances and its commitment to eradicate terrorist groups.
The US however, will not fare much better, since it will be under suspicion of having carried out the attack and of having a powerful intelligence network in Pakistan, against the wishes of the government. The Haqqani network had been targeted often with drone attacks in the Waziristan area, where the bulk of the group retreats to safety after carrying out operations in Afghanistan.
The Haqqani network is one of the oldest. Nasiruddin's father, Jalaluddin Haqqani, was a mujahideen during the Afghan/Soviet conflict in the early 1980's.
Partial Source : AlJazeera/ 11.11.13
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