US offers new bounties for Haqqani network members

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration is offering new rewards of up to $5 million each for information leading to the location of four top members of the Pakistan-based extremist Haqqani network and is boosting an existing $5 million reward for the group’s leader to $10 million.

The State Department’s Rewards for Justice program announced the bounty offers on Wednesday. The $10 million reward applies to Sirajuddin Haqqani, while the $5 million rewards are being offered for his relatives Aziz Haqqani, Khalil al-Rahman Haqqani and Yahya Haqqani, as well as Abdul Rauf Zakir.

The Haqqanis are allied with al-Qaida and the Afghan Taliban and are accused of staging numerous cross-border attacks from their base in North Waziristan, Pakistan, including the 19-hour siege at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul in September 2011.