US designates Haqqani network as a terrorist group

The United States is designating the Pakistan-based Haqqani network, accused of high-profile attacks in Afghanistan, as a terrorist organization, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Friday, in a move that would trigger sanctions against the group and turn up the heat on Pakistan's government.   

Clinton said in a statement that she had told the U.S. Congress that she will brand the Haqqani network as a foreign terrorist organization, subjecting the group and its members to additional sanctions, including an asset freeze.   

"We also continue our robust campaign of diplomatic, military and intelligence pressure on the network, demonstrating the United States' resolve to degrade the organization's ability to execute violent attacks," said Clinton, who was in Vladivostok, Russia for an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.   

The Haqqanis, a Pashtun tribe with strongholds in southeastern Afghanistan and across the border in Pakistan, have been blamed for an attack on the U.S. embassy in Kabul and other high-profile assaults in Afghanistan.