Haqqani network was planning major attack in Afghanistan — US

Washington: Intelligence reports suggested before a coordinated assault on the Afghan capital began on Sunday that the Haqqani network of militants had been planning such high-profile attacks, US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said on Monday.

Panetta, speaking to reporters, said the attacks that began on Sunday reflected the resilience of the Taliban and associated militants such as the Haqqanis, based along the Afghanistan-Paksitan border, more than a decade after the Afghan war began.

General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that there was currently no indication that the attacks had been planned in Pakistan.