April 7,
2008: The Taliban have patched up differences with Pakistani tribal leader
Jalaluddin Haqqani. This guy has not been heard from for several years, since
his dispute with Taliban leader Mullah Omar. Jalaluddin Haqqani leads the
Haqqani Network, a group of Islamic terrorists operating in the Pushtun tribal
areas along the Afghan border. He was a
major player during the 1980s battle with the Russian occupation of
Afghanistan. He joined the Taliban in 1995, and became a senior official. But
in the last few years, he fell out with Taliban Mullah Omar. Since then, Haqqani
has been in negotiations with the Afghan and Pakistani government, but
apparently these have failed, as he now pledges allegiance to Mullah Omar.
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The
Taliban are apparently following the advice of Jalaluddin Haqqani, and
concentrating more on terror attacks, than in trying to control territory. This
is a step back for the Taliban. But after disastrous losses in the last two
years, the Taliban need to come up with some new tactics, or face even more
embarrassing defeats if they launch another "Spring Offensive."
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