US pressuring Haqqani as blacklist deadline looms

WASHINGTON: The United States is keeping up pressure on the Haqqani network, a US official said Wednesday, just days ahead of a congressional deadline on whether to designate it a terrorist group.

"We've been pretty clear for a long time... that the US policy is to put pressure on the Haqqani network," acting US State Department deputy spokesman Patrick Ventrell told journalists.

"That includes both the sanctions we have already disclosed, but also military pressure as well."

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said she will meet an obligation to decide by Sunday whether the Haqqani should be considered terrorists.

US officials have linked the Haqqani network to some of the boldest attacks in Afghanistan including a June assault on a hotel near Kabul that killed 18 people and a siege last year of the US embassy.

Clinton last week declined comment on which way she is leaning, but said the United States was already "putting steady pressure" on the Haqqani network. (AFP)