Sirajuddin Haqqani dares US to attack N Waziristan

Sirajuddin Haqqani, the head of a group his father founded in the 1980s, said that he looked forward to a U.S. ground attack.
“The United States will suffer more losses (in North Waziristan) than they suffered in Afghanistan,” he said in the conversation with Reuters. He spoke to Reuters by satellite phone from an undisclosed location.
“I always avoid travelling in a motorcade of armed fighters, as it puts your life in danger,” he said, adding that is also why he doesn’t wear a turban, standard head-dress for all male Afghans, or carry a gun.
He acknowledged that Haqqani fighters now number around 15,000, making it probably the largest force among the Taliban.
He said that he mediates disputes among the Taliban and takes part in their meetings in Afghanistan.
When the U.S. invaded Afghanistan after the Sept. 11 attacks, Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters fled through the arid hills into North and South Waziristan. Sirajuddin said they were a shattered and dispirited group at first, in shock and awe of American power.
“Those were the harsh days of my life as all senior Mujahideen leaders were silent and were underground after the invasion of Afghanistan,” said Sirajuddin, who is believed to be in his mid-30s.
“None of them were even willing to be called Taliban as the United States, through its media campaign, had created the wrong impression of its power and intelligence.”
As was the case with Osama bin Laden, the group’s patriarch and founder Jalaluddin Haqqani was a legendary mujahideen commander who worked with the Americans in the 1980s to oust the Soviet Union from Afghanistan.
Sirajuddin told Reuters the group was not opposed to peace talks, but wants them to be broader based than what has been proposed to him.
“They (Afghan government) offered us very important positions, but we rejected and told them they would not succeed in their nefarious designs. They wanted to divide us,” he told Reuters in another interview last Saturday.
“We would support whatever solution our shura members suggest for the future of Afghanistan,” he said referring to the Afghan Taliban leadership.
Sirajuddin half-heartedly denied responsibility for that attack. “For some reasons, I would not like to claim that fighters of our group carried out the recent attack on the U.S. embassy and NATO headquarters. Our central leadership, particularly senior members of the shura, suggested I should keep quiet in the future if the U.S. and its allies suffer in the future.”