Senior Haqqani Network commander killed in IS attack in Kabul

Kabul/Peshawar: – Hamdullah Mukhlis, a senior commander of the Haqqani network group in the Taliban, was killed in a terrorist attack on a hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan. This comes as the biggest shock to the Haqqani network, one of the most influential in the Taliban. The Pakistani Foreign Ministry has condemned the attack on the hospital in Kabul. The strings of the Haqqani network are in the hands of Pakistan’s ISI. This explains the intense reaction received from Pakistan over the killing.

On Wednesday, 25 people were killed; over 50 got injured in a terrorist attack on the Sardar Mohammed Dawood Khan military hospital in Kabul‘s Wazir Akbar Khan area. IS-Khorasan, which has its base situated on the Afghan-Pakistan border, accepted the responsibility of the attack. The concerned organisation posted on social media that 5 IS terrorists carried out the attack.

Initially, the Taliban refused to reveal any information regarding the attack. But after it was exposed that Hamdullah Mukhlis, a senior commander of the Haqqani network, was killed in the attack, the Taliban released the information. Hamdullah Mukhlis was the group leader involved in the Taliban taking control of the Presidential residence on the 15th of August. A photograph of Mukhlis sitting in a chair in the President’s office, surrounded by terrorists from the Haqqani network, was published in the international media.

Mukhlis was the head of the Badri 313 Brigade in the Haqqani Network. Mukhlis’s Badri 313 Brigade is responsible for the security of the capital Kabul. Mukhlis was also seen as a trusted ally of Sirajuddin Haqqani, the head of the Haqqani network and interior minister under the Taliban. Therefore, it is claimed that the killing of Mukhlis is a significant jolt to the Haqqani network. The Afghan reporters claim that Afghanistan will experience its impact in the next few days.

A few days ago, a leading US newspaper claimed that the Taliban and IS, the two terrorist organisations, would soon be raging for revenge and would assassinate each other’s commanders. US-trained Afghan intelligence and Special Forces personnel have joined IS against the Taliban. The US newspaper had warned that the IS militants would launch vicious attacks on the Taliban. But the Taliban dismissed the allegations, saying Afghan soldiers had not joined IS.