Taliban denounces Haqqani blacklisting by U.S.

The Taliban denounced Saturday U.S. moves to blacklist the al-Qaeda-linked Haqqani network as a terrorist organization, claiming the “ineffective” move was indicative of U.S. defeat in Afghanistan.

In a statement released through micro-blogging site Twitter, it said there was “no separate entity... in Afghanistan by the name of Haqqani,” adding that the network’s founder and its fighters were totally loyal to Taliban supreme leader Mullah Omar.

It claimed previous terrorist designations against its members had no impact on operations and said “this latest announcement will also be ineffective.”

“The Islamic Emirate does not have any trade agreements with any American companies or individuals and neither does it have monetary funds there which could be frozen,” it said.

“This cowardly act of yours in which you enter Mujahideen of Islamic Emirate into your so-called black list is indicative of your complete defeat and dismay.”