WaPo: Afghan blast kills key minister, shocking Taliban

[Dennis Donovan]

WaPo - (archived: https://archive.ph/NIQr2 ) Afghan blast kills key minister, shocking Taliban

Khalil Haqqani was the acting minister for refugees and a key member of the notorious Haqqani network.



December 11, 2024
9:24 a.m.

By Rick Noack and Haq Nawaz Khan

Senior Taliban minister Khalil Haqqani was killed in an attack on Wednesday, the Taliban’s chief spokesman said, marking the highest-profile government casualty since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan three years ago.

Khalil Haqqani was the acting minister for refugees and a key member of the Haqqani network, which led a violent insurgency against the United States and its allies before the American withdrawal in 2021.

He was killed in a blast at the Ministry of Refugees in Kabul, according to two Taliban officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

While the Haqqanis have long been a dominant force within the Taliban, they had appeared to lose influence recently amid speculation of a rift between regime leader Hibatullah Akhundzada and Sirajuddin Haqqani, the acting interior minister and a nephew of Khalil Haqqani.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for Wednesday’s blast, which also killed four other people, according to two Taliban officials.

/snip

[OnDoutside]

1. Sounds like they're suggesting an inside job ? I wonder if Syria played an influence on the "why now" ?

[maxsolomon]

3. Meh on the timing. Afghanistan is pretty insular.

Either a power struggle among the Talibs, or ISIS-K.

I don't care much one way or the other. It won't change their medieval governance one whit.

[exmodee]

2. That's too bad

Anyhoo, I'm having a tuna melt for lunch and then I might dance on a grave or two.