Designation Of Sangeen Zadran

The U.S Department of State designated a key Haqqani network commander, Mullah Sangeen Zadran, a terrorist, freezing any U.S. assets he may have and barring Americans from business dealings with him.

At the same time, Sangeen was also designated a terrorist by the United Nations sanctions committee. As a result, he is banned from global travel, his assets have been frozen and he is subject to an arms embargo.

Sangeen Zadran is the Shadow Governor for Afghanistan's Paktika Province and a commander of the Haqqani Network, an independent insurgent group in Afghanistan and Pakistan that is closely allied with the Taliban.

Based in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan's North Waziristan, the Haqqani Network, which consists largely of members of the extended Haqqani family, is active in Afghanistan's southeastern areas of the Paktia, Paktika, Khost, Logar and Ghazni Provinces. The group earns money from trucking, extortion and racketeering. The fighters conduct kidnappings for ransom, collect illegal taxes and shake down Afghan shopkeepers for protection fees.

The Haqqani Network pioneered the use of suicide attacks in Afghanistan. They are believed to be responsible for the bombing attack on the Kabul Serena Hotel in January 2008, the July 2008 bombing of the Indian Embassy in Kabul, and the 2011 attacks on the Kabul Bank in Jalalabad, Afghanistan and the Hotel Inter-Continental in Kabul.

Haqqani commander Sangeen Zadran helps lead fighters in attacks across Southeastern Afghanistan, and is believed to have planned and coordinated the movement of hundreds of foreign fighters into Afghanistan.

He has also been connected to many improvised explosive device attacks. He is believed to have orchestrated the kidnappings of Afghans and foreign nationals in the border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

As well, Sangeen Zadran acts as a senior lieutenant to Haqqani Network leader Sirajuddin Haqqani, another Specially Designated Global Terrorist who is also listed at the United Nations 1988 Sanctions Committee.

The actions taken by the U.S. and the U. N. against Sangeen Zadran will help stem the flow of financial and other assistance to this dangerous individual and to the Haqqani network. They also demonstrate international resolve in eliminating his ability to execute violent attacks, and to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat terrorist networks.