<p>The Pakistan-based Haqqani network is suspected to have carried out the brazen suicide attacks on western embassies and Parliament here, the Afghan Interior Minister has said.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Bismillah Mohammadi said that one of the militants arrested during the latest attacks on the Afghan capital and three other cities had told the authorities that al-Qaeda linked Haqqani network was behind the assaults.<br /><br />The minister told reporters that 36 militants and eight members of the Afghan security forces had been killed in the 18-hour operation to flush out the holed-up militants.<br />The involvement of the Haqqani network, Mohammadi said, was corroborated by another militant caught in Nangarhar Province.<br /><br />Western officials also said that the attacks bore the hallmarks of the Haqqani network, which has focus on attacks against high-profile Afghan government and foreign targets.<br />New York Times quoting the officials said that the network based in Pakistan was a source of tension between Washington and Islamabad.<br /><br />The Haqqani network, officials said, have now become the focus of American military effort. The Haqqani network was directly involved in one of the last major attacks in Kabul - an assault on the American embassy in September, and the paper said that the incident also involved militants raining down rockets and gunfire from an unfinished building nearby.<br /><br />"This does have all the hallmarks of the Haqqanis on it," said Colonel Daniel J W King, spokesman for the Nato. "It is been over 150 days since the Haqqanis launched a successful attack on Kabul, they have to do this if they are going to have any credibility."<br />The US Ambassador in Kabul Ryan C Crocker told CNN that the attacks like this strengthened the case for Americans staying until the Afghans were fully ready to handle the situation on their own.<br /><br />Admitting that Taliban still retained control of some areas in eastern Afghanistan, Crocker said, "There is a very dangerous enemy out there with capabilities and with safe havens in Pakistan."<br /><br />"To get out before the Afghans have a full grip on security, which is couple of years out, would be to invite the Taliban, Haqqani and al-Qaeda back in and set the stage for another 9/11. And that, I think, is an unacceptable risk for any American," the Ambassador said.</p>
<p>The Pakistan-based Haqqani network is suspected to have carried out the brazen suicide attacks on western embassies and Parliament here, the Afghan Interior Minister has said.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Bismillah Mohammadi said that one of the militants arrested during the latest attacks on the Afghan capital and three other cities had told the authorities that al-Qaeda linked Haqqani network was behind the assaults.<br /><br />The minister told reporters that 36 militants and eight members of the Afghan security forces had been killed in the 18-hour operation to flush out the holed-up militants.<br />The involvement of the Haqqani network, Mohammadi said, was corroborated by another militant caught in Nangarhar Province.<br /><br />Western officials also said that the attacks bore the hallmarks of the Haqqani network, which has focus on attacks against high-profile Afghan government and foreign targets.<br />New York Times quoting the officials said that the network based in Pakistan was a source of tension between Washington and Islamabad.<br /><br />The Haqqani network, officials said, have now become the focus of American military effort. The Haqqani network was directly involved in one of the last major attacks in Kabul - an assault on the American embassy in September, and the paper said that the incident also involved militants raining down rockets and gunfire from an unfinished building nearby.<br /><br />"This does have all the hallmarks of the Haqqanis on it," said Colonel Daniel J W King, spokesman for the Nato. "It is been over 150 days since the Haqqanis launched a successful attack on Kabul, they have to do this if they are going to have any credibility."<br />The US Ambassador in Kabul Ryan C Crocker told CNN that the attacks like this strengthened the case for Americans staying until the Afghans were fully ready to handle the situation on their own.<br /><br />Admitting that Taliban still retained control of some areas in eastern Afghanistan, Crocker said, "There is a very dangerous enemy out there with capabilities and with safe havens in Pakistan."<br /><br />"To get out before the Afghans have a full grip on security, which is couple of years out, would be to invite the Taliban, Haqqani and al-Qaeda back in and set the stage for another 9/11. And that, I think, is an unacceptable risk for any American," the Ambassador said.</p>