Taliban leader Anas Haqqani on Tuesday visited the tomb of Mahmud Ghaznavi, who attacked the Somnath temple in Gujarat multiple times in the 17th century. Haqqani, younger brother of Taliban’s new Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani of the infamous ‘Haqqani Network’, glorified Ghaznavi calling him “a renowned Muslim warrior”.

“Today, we visited the shrine of Sultan Mahmud Ghaznavi, a renowned Muslim warrior & Mujahid of the 10th century. Ghaznavi (May the mercy of Allah be upon him) established a strong Muslim rule in the region from Ghazni & smashed the idol of Somnath,” Anas Haqqani wrote about the visit on Twitter. He also posted pictures of the tomb.

Ghaznavi was the first independent ruler of the Turkic dynasty of Ghaznavids, who ruled from 998 to 1030 AD.

According to history, Mahmud Ghaznavi attacked the Somnath temple 17 times, and finally ransacked it in 1024 AD. The chief deity of the temple is Lord Shiva. Ghaznavi specifically targeted Hindu temples, since they were the centres of wealth, economy and ideology for the Hindus.

Anas Haqqani was a member of the Taliban’s negotiation team in its political office in Doha.

The Haqqani Network and the Taliban came closer during the 1990s, and this time too, the dreaded terror group is part of the government led by Taliban. In fact, Sirajuddin Haqqani – a global terrorist – heads Afghanistan’s interior ministry.

It is widely believed that Mullah Omar, the one-eyed founder of the Taliban, was radicalised in Darul Uloom Haqqania in Pakistan’s Khyber-Paktunkhwa province, from which the Haqqani network derives its name.

The Haqqani network is a jihad group incorporated in Pakistan with two of its members, Sirajuddin Haqqani, deputy leader of Taliban, and Khalil Haqqani, the Taliban emissary, carrying USD 15 million in reward on their head. The group is linked to some of the most brazen attacks on Indian interests in Afghanistan.