Taliban Claims Blacklisting of Haqquani Network Indicative of US Defeat in Afghanistan

The Taliban denounced on Saturday US moves to blacklist the Haqqani network as a terrorist organization, saying it would have no impact on operations and was indicative of US defeat in Afghanistan.

In a statement released through Twitter, it said there was “no separate entity… in Afghanistan by the name of Haqqani”, adding that the network’s founder and its fighters were totally loyal to Taliban supreme leader Mullah Omar.