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Summary Sirajuddin Haqqani says that his group no longer has sanctuaries in Pakistan.
The Haqqani network would take part in peace talks with the Kabul government and the United States only if the Taliban did, its leader Sirajuddin Haqqani told Reuters on Saturday.Sirajuddin said the group had rejected several offers of talks from the United States and President Hamid Karzais government in the past because they were an attempt to create divisions between militant groups, and any further attempts to do so would fail.The Haqqani group no longer has sanctuaries in Pakistan, and felt secure inside Afghanistan, he said in a telephone interview from an undisclosed location.Earlier, the Pentagon said on Monday that Haqqani network was behind a truck bombing that killed four Afghan civilians and wounded 77 US troops on the eve of the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks.The Taliban claimed responsibility for Saturdays attack in Wardak province, 30 miles south of the capital. The bombing occurred hours after the Taliban issued a September 11-related statement blaming the United States for the bloodshed in Afghanistan.The Haqqani network is a militant group allied with the Taliban that was started by Jalaluddin Haqqani, who rose to prominence in the 1980s fight against Soviet forces in Afghanistan.
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