Khalifa Sirajuddin Haqqani currently serves as the Taliban’s Minister of Interior, overseeing the country's police forces and various specialized units, reportedly numbering more than 230,000 personnel. He is also the leader of the Haqqani Network, a role he assumed in 2018 after the death of his father, Mawlawi Jalaluddin Haqqani.
Jalaluddin Haqqani was a prominent figure in the Afghan jihad, initially serving as a commander in Hezb-e-Islami under Mawlawi Mohammad Younus Khalis before emerging as a key powerbroker with close ties to 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 regime in 2001, Jalaluddin played a key role in facilitating the escape of then-al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden from Afghanistan.
Sirajuddin Haqqani, who joined the military ranks in 2003, was initially active in Khost province, where he managed military operations by 2006. He rose rapidly within the Taliban's leadership ranks, becoming one of two deputies of the movement in 2016 under Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, while continuing to lead the Haqqani Network. In addition to maintaining close ties with al-Qaeda, the Haqqani family has longstanding historical ties to Pakistan, including receiving 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, the U.S. government also named Sirajuddin Haqqani a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT), offering a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to his capture, though this bounty was later quietly removed following the Taliban’s return to power.
Born reportedly in December 1979, Sirajuddin Haqqani grew up in Miran Shah in Pakistan’s North Waziristan. His reported place of birth varies across sources, including Danda (Miramshah, North Waziristan, Pakistan), as well as locations in Khost, Paktika (Neka district), and Paktia (Garda Saray district) provinces in Afghanistan. He belongs to the Sultankhel section of the Zadran tribe.
He holds Afghanistan passport P00032260, issued on June 30, 2022, in Kabul under the name Abdul Satar Abdullah (expires June 30, 2032). He remains listed on multiple sanctions regimes, including the United Nations sanctions list under designation TAi.144..
