Former US ally turned implacable foe dies in Afghanistan, Taliban announces

KABUL, Afghanistan - A top leader of the Taliban, who was once an ally of the United States and later became one of its fiercest opponents in Afghanistan, has died, the Taliban announced on Tuesday.

The statement said that Mawlavi Jalaluddin Haqqani, leader of one of the most effective militant networks in Afghanistan, "passed away after a long battle with illness." It did not give an exact time or place of death.

Haqqani "was ill and bedridden for the past several years," the statement said. His sons long ago took over the day-to-day running of the network, and at a time of increased Taliban attacks on the government, his death is expected to have little impact.

Haqqani was among the main recipients of U.S. covert military and financial aid during the occupation of Afghanistan by the Soviet army in the 1980s. But he joined the radical Taliban movement after they took over the country in 1996.

When U.S.-led forces overthrew the Taliban in 2001, he put his considerable military experience to fighting the Americans.

Hailing from a powerful Pashtun tribe in eastern Afghanistan, Haqqani had historical ties with some of the rich Arab nations and Pakistan, including its intelligence service. He set up his own front in the region and called it the Haqqani Network, even while still considering himself a member of the Taliban.

The network launched several high profile attacks against U.S. and Afghan troops. Now run by one of his sons, Sirajuddin Haqqani, it also has been behind a number of abductions of foreign nationals in Afghanistan.

Haqqani has lost a wife, four of his sons and several other family members in various U.S. airstrikes and attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan over the years.

One of his sons has been languishing for the past several years in an Afghan jail with a death sentence. The government, however, has reportedly hesitated to execute him because the network since 2016 has held captive two instructors who taught at American University in Kabul; one of them is an American citizen.

Haqqani's death was reported by Afghan government years ago, but it was never confirmed by the Taliban or his family members.

Observers, lawmakers and officials believe his demise will have no major impact on the mounting Taliban advances on the battlefield or on the efforts to revive stalled peace talks with the group.

Michael Kugelman, an expert on Afghanistan at the U.S.-based Wilson Center, also said that Haqqani's departure will not impact the current political or military situation in Afghanistan.

"Given how long he had been ill, his death won't have a big impact on the war. But still a major loss for the HQN [Haqqani Network]," he said in a tweet.

In its statement, the Taliban said Haqqani was one of the great figures of the movement that kept it united through the years.

"The actions and exploits of Haqqani Sahib and his untiring efforts to keep the Islamic Emirate [Taliban] united in the face of American invasion are golden chapters of history which future Islamic generations shall forever be proud of," it said.

(COMMENT, BELOW)