VLADIVOSTOK, Russia -- The Obama administration on Friday declared the insurgent Haqqani network a terrorist body, a decision that could undermine Afghan peace efforts and test fragile U.S.-Pakistani relations.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said she notified Congress of her decision, which bans Americans from doing any business with members of the Pakistan-based militant group and blocks any assets it holds in the U.S.
Enraged by a string of high-profile attacks on U.S. and NATO troops, Congress wanted action. In July, it gave Clinton a deadline of this Sunday to deliver a report on whether the Haqqanis should be designated a terrorist network and all of its members subjected to U.S. financial sanctions. Clinton's decision takes effect in seven to 10 days, U.S. officials said.
The U.S. had placed sanctions on many Haqqani leaders and is targeting its members militarily. But it held back from formally designating the al-Qaida-linked network a terrorist group because of concerns that it could jeopardize reconciliation efforts between the government and insurgents in Afghanistan and possibly ruffle feathers with Pakistan, the Haqqanis' longtime benefactor.
For a long time Washington has branded the group among the biggest threats to American and allied forces in Afghanistan, and to Afghanistan's stability after U.S. troops leave in 2014. A subsidiary of the Taliban, the Haqqani network is based in northern Pakistan but crosses the border to launch attacks, including a rocket-propelled grenade assault on the U.S. Embassy and NATO compound in Kabul in September.
The Obama administration has been trying to coax Afghanistan's fighting groups into peace talks, offering the prospect of a Qatar-based political office for insurgents and even the transfer of several prisoners being held at the U.S. naval base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. Negotiations have been dormant for months, and the Haqqanis have been among the least interested in talking.
The group has enjoyed a close relationship with Pakistan, too. The U.S. and its often reluctant counterterrorism ally have been at loggerheads over the Haqqanis for years.
Washington accused Islamabad of giving the network a free hand in the remote North Waziristan region and even providing some logistical support.
Pakistan says its forces are stretched thin fighting an insurgency that has killed more than 30,000 people and that it cannot take on the Haqqanis, too.
Many analysts attribute the military's reluctance to its historical ties to the network's founder, Jalaluddin Haqqani, and an assessment that the group can be an important ally in Afghanistan after U.S. forces withdraw in 2014.
A senior Pakistani intelligence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the administration's decision could hurt U.S.-Pakistani relations and negatively impact the ongoing peace process with the Taliban.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said she notified Congress of her decision, which bans Americans from doing any business with members of the Pakistan-based militant group and blocks any assets it holds in the U.S.
Enraged by a string of high-profile attacks on U.S. and NATO troops, Congress wanted action. In July, it gave Clinton a deadline of this Sunday to deliver a report on whether the Haqqanis should be designated a terrorist network and all of its members subjected to U.S. financial sanctions. Clinton's decision takes effect in seven to 10 days, U.S. officials said.
The U.S. had placed sanctions on many Haqqani leaders and is targeting its members militarily. But it held back from formally designating the al-Qaida-linked network a terrorist group because of concerns that it could jeopardize reconciliation efforts between the government and insurgents in Afghanistan and possibly ruffle feathers with Pakistan, the Haqqanis' longtime benefactor.
For a long time Washington has branded the group among the biggest threats to American and allied forces in Afghanistan, and to Afghanistan's stability after U.S. troops leave in 2014. A subsidiary of the Taliban, the Haqqani network is based in northern Pakistan but crosses the border to launch attacks, including a rocket-propelled grenade assault on the U.S. Embassy and NATO compound in Kabul in September.
The Obama administration has been trying to coax Afghanistan's fighting groups into peace talks, offering the prospect of a Qatar-based political office for insurgents and even the transfer of several prisoners being held at the U.S. naval base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. Negotiations have been dormant for months, and the Haqqanis have been among the least interested in talking.
The group has enjoyed a close relationship with Pakistan, too. The U.S. and its often reluctant counterterrorism ally have been at loggerheads over the Haqqanis for years.
Washington accused Islamabad of giving the network a free hand in the remote North Waziristan region and even providing some logistical support.
Pakistan says its forces are stretched thin fighting an insurgency that has killed more than 30,000 people and that it cannot take on the Haqqanis, too.
Many analysts attribute the military's reluctance to its historical ties to the network's founder, Jalaluddin Haqqani, and an assessment that the group can be an important ally in Afghanistan after U.S. forces withdraw in 2014.
A senior Pakistani intelligence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the administration's decision could hurt U.S.-Pakistani relations and negatively impact the ongoing peace process with the Taliban.