Khalifa Sirajuddin Haqqani currently serves as the Minister of Interior in the Taliban government, overseeing the country's police forces and various specialized units, which are reportedly estimated to number over 230,000 personnel. Additionally, he serves as the leader of the Haqqani Network, a role he assumed after the death of his father, Mawlawi Jalaluddin Haqqani, a prominent figure in the Afghan jihadist landscape.
Jalaluddin initially served as a commander in the Hezb-e-Islami group led by Mawlawi Mohammad Younus Khalis but quickly gained notoriety as a powerbroker aligned with Pakistan. In the mid-1990s, he joined forces with the Taliban and served as the Minister of Tribal Affairs during the first Taliban regime. After the U.S. ouster of the Taliban's regime in 2001, Jalaluddin played a crucial role in facilitating the escape of then-al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden from Afghanistan.
After Jalaluddin's death in 2018, his son Sirajuddin Haqqani assumed leadership of the Haqqani Network. Sirajuddin, who had joined the military ranks in 2003, was initially active in Khost province, where he managed military operations in 2006. He quickly rose through the Taliban's ranks, becoming one of two deputies of the Taliban movement in 2016 under Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, while also leading the Haqqani Network. In addition to maintaining a close working relationship with al-Qaeda, the Haqqani family has historical ties to Pakistan and has received support from its military and intelligence services.
In September 2012, the U.S. government designated the Haqqani Network as a foreign terrorist organization. In 2014, Sirajuddin Haqqani was named a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT), with a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to his capture. He is also listed on several sanctions lists, including the United Nations under the designation TAi.144. Born in December 1979, Sirajuddin Haqqani grew up in Miran Shah, in Pakistan's North Waziristan, and belongs to the Sultankhel section of the Zadran tribe.
