Haqqani network targeted Kabul Conference: Holbrooke

London, July 24(ANI): US Special Envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, has said that the Al-Qaida-allied Haqqani network, which operates on both sides of Pakistan's border with Afghanistan, had targeted the venue of the Kabul Conference this week.

Talking to reporters in London, Holbrooke said that the Haqqani network "was targeting the building we were meeting in a few days ago", The Nation reports.

Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai and UN chief Ban Ki-moon had chaired the conference, which was attended by up to 70 international representatives including about 40 foreign ministers, to discuss the future of the war-torn country.

The conference was also attended by Indian External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi.

The Haqqani movement is led by Jalaluddin Haqqani, a commander during the 1980s Afghan war against the Soviets.

The network, based in the North Waziristan's tribal area along Pakistan's border with Afghanistan, is thought to present one of the biggest threats to NATO and US forces in Afghanistan.

It maintains old links with Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Osama bin Laden. (ANI)