Maj Gen Benjamin Freakley says it was Jalaluddin Haqqani who recruited and sent unemployed and untrained men to fight in Afghanistan’s Paktika province, most of whom were killed in an encounter this week with US forces. According to an AP report, Haqqani – whom the general said was operating from inside Pakistan – sent some 200 ill-equipped fighters, some wearing sandles on their feet, into battle where most were killed in a major battle this week.