Is the US ‘right’ when it says Taliban and Haqqani Network are separate

New Delhi, Aug 28: The US State Department said that the Haqqani Network and the Taliban are separate entities. During a press briefing, US State Department Spokesperson, Ned Price when asked about the security at the Kabul Airport said that both are separate networks.

The statements by Price are surprising considering the long term relationship shared by both the entities.

According to the National Counter-Terrorism Centre, the Haqqani are considered to be most lethal and target the US coalition and Afghan Forces. The Haqqani Network is also involved in the multiple strikes on the US coalition and also has close ties with the Al-Qaeda. Moreover Khalil Haqqani who has a reward of USD 5 million is a regular visitor to the Pakistan's military headquarters in Rawalpindi, according to a reporting The New York Times.

To be sure the Haqqani Network is a terror group nurtured in Pakistan. Islamabad has openly propagated the Network. Khalil Haqqani had in fact recently shown up at Kabul as the new security chief of the Taliban. Experts say that the Taliban, Haqqani Network and the Al-Qaeda are inseparable.

The acting president of Afghanistan, Amrullah Saleh says that they have every evidence on hand to show that ISKP cells have their roots in the Talibs and Haqqani Network particularly the ones operating in Kabul. Talibs denying links with the ISIS identical to denial of Pak on Quetta Shira. Talibs have learnt very well from their masters he also said.

Further it must also be noted that the members of the Haqqani family have held important positions inside the Taliban. While striking the deal with the US, the Taliban had assured that it would keep foreign terrorists away.

However there are doubts regarding the commitment of the outfit. Officials tell OneIndia that while the Taliban may have won the battle for Kabul, the ISKP would continue to be an irritant for it. The outfit has a significant number of people who are highly radicalised and the bombing at the airport is an indicator of the same.

The Taliban may have assured the United States that it would keep outfits such as the ISKP and Al-Qaeda out of Afghanistan. However it is too early to assess whether that assurance would be adhered to or not.

Leon Panetta, former US Secretary of Defence however told NPR's All Things Concerned that the Taliban are terrorists and they will support terrorists. There is no question in my mind that they will provide a safe haven for the Al-Qaeda, the ISIS and terrorism in general, he had said earlier this month.