NATO says captures senior Haqqani commander in Afghanistan

KABUL, (Reuters) – NATO-led forces said tday  that they had captured the senior commander for the Haqqani  network in Afghanistan, Haji Mali Khan, during an operation in  eastern Paktia province earlier in the week.
Khan is “the uncle of Siraj and Badruddin Haqqani … one of  the highest ranking members of the Haqqani network and a revered  elder of the Haqqani clan,” the NATO-led International Security  Assistance Force (ISAF) said in a statement.
NATO said Khan had managed bases and operations in both  Afghanistan and Pakistan, and moved forces across the border for  attacks, as well as transferring funds and sourcing supplies.  The statement called him “the senior Haqqani commander in  Afghanistan”.
Khan was captured on Tuesday in Jani Khel district of Paktia  province along with his deputy and bodyguard, in an operation by  Afghan and foreign forces, NATO said.
He was heavily armed but “submitted … without incident or  resistance,” the force said. It did not detail how they had  identified Khan.
The Taliban, to whom the Haqqani network have pledged  allegiance, denied that Khan had been captured.
“I have just spoken with Haji Mali Khan, he is fine and is  somewhere else and hasn’t been detained,” spokesman Zabihullah  Mujahid told Reuters. “This is a baseless news and it has been  released in order to weaken Mujahideen’s morale,” he said.
NATO said this year they had arrested 1,300 suspected  Haqqani insurgents and 300 insurgent leaders in 500 operations  that aimed to disrupt the network. Around 20 “network  facilitators” were killed, the statement added.
Khan had also established a militant camp in Paktia province  in the past year, and reported directly to Siraj Haqqani, the  son of founding commander Jalaluddin Haqqani, NATO said.
Siraj is now believed to be in charge of day-to-day affairs  of the Haqqani network because his father has health problems.
Before fighting in Afghanistan, NATO said Khan had served as  a Haqqani network envoy to Baitullah Mehsud, former leader of  the Tehrik-e-Taliban or Pakistani Taliban.