Row as Taliban glorify Ghaznavi for attack on Somnath temple

New Delhi, October 6

In a provocative act, Taliban top leader Anas Haqqani has glorified Mahmud Ghaznavi and his act of breaking the Somnath temple idol.

Haqqani visited the shrine of Sultan Mahmud Ghaznavi on Tuesday. Taking to Twitter, he glorified Ghaznavi, who had demolished the Somnath idol in the past. The tweet has caused an uproar on social media for its provocative contents.

“Today, we visited the shrine of Sultan Mahmud Ghaznavi, a renowned Muslim warrior & Mujahid of the 10th century. Ghaznavi established a strong Muslim rule in the region from Ghaznavi & smashed the idol of Somnath,” Anas Haqqani said in a tweet.

The Haqqani Network's willingness to serve ISI's interests leads sources here to treat Annas Haqqani's statement as more than just exultation. They wonder if there is an ISI link between Haqqani's statement and the killings of the most defenseless of civilians in Kashmir —an aged Hindu and a labourer from Bihar.

A next generation leader of the Taliban, Anas is the younger brother of the Haqqani Network supremo Sirajuddin who carries a $10 million bounty on his head. Said to be fundraiser for the Taliban in Arab countries, Anas was arrested by the Americans and spent five years in Bagram prison, where he was twice sentenced to death but released in 2019.

The Haqqani Network's fingerprints were all over a deadly 2008 attack on the Indian mission in Kabul that killed 58, including an Indian Army Brigadier and a senior diplomat. Besides, it has repeatedly targeted Indian projects. Afghanistan’s now-defunct National Directorate of Security has repeatedly told its Indian counterparts that the attacks were directed by Qari Abdullah who lives in Peshawar. — IANS/TNS

Lt Gen nadeem Anjum named new ISI chief

Islamabad: The Pakistan army on Wednesday announced that the powerful spy agency ISI chief Lt Gen Faiz Hameed has been appointed as Peshawar Corps Commander — a crucial position in view of the Taliban’s takeover of neighbouring Afghanistan. Lt Gen Nadeem Anjum was appointed as the new Director-General of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in place of Lt Gen Hameed, who was transferred as Peshawar Corps Commander. PTI

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