In this photograph taken on August 20, 1998 Taliban commander Jalaluddin Haqqani shows 22 August two clusters and the fuse of a US cruise missile that hit Zhavar camp in Khost. – Photo by AFP

KABUL: Afghanistan welcomes the United Nations' decision to impose sanctions on the Haqqani network and would not negotiate for peace with the group blamed for several high-profile attacks in the country, the presidential spokesman said on Tuesday.

On Monday the UN Security Council's Taliban sanctions committee added the Haqqani network to a UN blacklist, the United States said.

Aimal Faizi, President Hamid Karzai's chief spokesman, said Kabul backed the UN decision, but added it should have been made a long time ago to weaken the Haqqanis, a Pashtun tribe allied to the Afghan Taliban, who he said had carried out most of the terrorist attacks in the nation over the past 10 years.

Although the Afghan government is engaged in reconciliation talks with members of the Taliban, it rules out dialogue with the Haqqani group, believed to be based in the unruly border area between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

“We don't want any kind of deal with the Haqqanis, who were behind many of the attacks on Afghan security forces and civilians including women and children,” Faizi told Reuters.

“We have certain negotiating conditions with armed opposition groups but the Haqqanis do not meet the criteria and they are in the service of a foreign spy agency.”

Afghan and US officials have accused Pakistan's intelligence agency of using Haqqani militants as proxies in Afghanistan to counter the influence of rival India. Islamabad denies the allegations.

The United States designated the Haqqani network a terrorist organisation in September, a move the group's commanders said proved Washington was not sincere about peace efforts in Afghanistan.

Isolating the Haqqanis, who were blamed for the 18-hour attack on embassies and parliament in Kabul in April, could complicate efforts to secure peace in Afghanistan as most Nato combat troops prepare to leave by the end of 2014.

The Haqqanis say they are intricately tied to the Afghan Taliban and both groups insist they must act in unison in any peace process.

Most of the Haqqani leaders have already been blacklisted individually but still, the Haqqanis run a sophisticated financial network, raising money through kidnapping, extortion and drug trafficking, but through a legitimate business portfolio that included import/export, transport, real estate and construction interests in Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Gulf.

Opinion

Editorial

Regional climbdown
04 Mar, 2026

Regional climbdown

WITH the region in flames, Pakistan must calibrate its foreign policy accordingly; it has to deal with some ...
Burning questions
Updated 04 Mar, 2026

Burning questions

A credible, independent, and time-bound inquiry is now necessary after the US Consulate protest ended in gruesome bloodshed.
Governance failure
04 Mar, 2026

Governance failure

BENEATH Lahore’s signal-free corridors and road infrastructure lies a darker truth: crumbling sewerage lines,...
Iran endgame
Updated 03 Mar, 2026

Iran endgame

AS hostilities continue following the Israeli-American joint aggression against Iran, there seems to be no visible...
Water concerns
03 Mar, 2026

Water concerns

RECENT reports that India plans to invest $60bn in increasing its water storage capacity on the Jhelum and Chenab...
Down and out
03 Mar, 2026

Down and out

ANOTHER Twenty20 World Cup, another ignominious exit — although this time Pakistan did advance past the first...