This is the first time. During a trip to the police academy for a promotion ceremony, Sirajuddin Haqqani, head of the interior ministry of Afghanistan’s Islamist government, revealed his face.
The only known photo of this Taliban was on an FBI wanted poster. Usually, Sirajuddin Haqqani is photographed and filmed only from behind during his performances, or with his face completely blurred.
“For your satisfaction and to establish your confidence (…) I am speaking to the media during a public meeting with you,” he said during this official ceremony in Kabul. Then a lot of photos and videos were taken, which were published on social networks.
A meeting that didn’t happen by chance. Like many senior leaders of the regime, he wore a long, full beard and a black turban topped with a white shawl.
[WAKIL KOHSAR / AFP]
This public appearance may also be a symbol of the Taliban’s increased confidence in their power over the country. Many diplomats made the trip, including the Pakistani ambassador, although no country has yet formally recognized the Islamic fundamentalist regime.
At the head of a powerful network of the same name
Before coming to power in Afghanistan in August 2021, Sirajuddin Haqqani was both one of the deputies of the Taliban led by Hibatullah Akhundzada and the leader of the powerful network that bears his name.
The Haqqani network is also accused of carrying out some of the most brutal attacks carried out by the Taliban in Afghanistan in the past twenty years.
Short clip of today’s speech by Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani
(engl.subs) https://t.co/g3cBA4KGc3 pic.twitter.com/5nfxnGY5vM
— nazo_anaa (@nazo_anaa) March 5, 2022
Sirajuddin Haqqani is still on the FBI’s most wanted list of suspects. There is a reward of up to $10 million (9.1 million euros) for any information leading to his arrest.
Sirajuddin Haqqani is accused, among other things, of the deadly 2008 attack on the Serena Hotel in Kabul, which killed six people, and of the assassination attempt on former Afghan President Hamid Karzai. The FBI calls him a “global terrorist” and also accuses him of “close ties to the al-Qaeda network.”