Taliban's 'Prez face' Abdul Ghani Baradar reaches Kabul for final govt transition talks

in the final leg of negotiation, Taliban's political chief Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar - the pre-emptive choice as the President in current Afghanistan has reached Kabul to hold talks on Saturday, state local Afghan reports. Baradar, who had been part of the Doha talks, has reached Kabul from Kandahar and will hold talks with ex-Presidents Hamid Karzai and Abdullah Abdullah for 'peaceful transition' of power. Taliban has toppled over the Ghani government as US troops hastily withdraw from Afghanistan.

Baradar reaches Kabul for talks

As per sources, no announcement in relation to the formation of the government of the Taliban will be made before August 31. Sources added said that the Taliban's lead negotiator Anas Haqqani had told the Afghan govt interlocutor that the militant group had a deal with the US to do nothing until the final withdrawal date. Several Taliban leaders have already held talks with Karzai in Kabul after the takeover. US troops have a scheduled date of September 11 to completely pull out from the war-torn nation after 20 years. 

Abdul Ghani Baradar - co-founder of the Taliban along with Mohammed Omar, had been instrumental in taking the Taliban to power in 1996. In the then-govt, Baradar was deputy minister of defence and deputy chief of the military before being overthrown by the American troops. In 2001, after the defeat of the Taliban, Baradar was the de facto leader of the Quetta Shura, which was the Taliban’s leadership in exile, mainly in Pakistan. He was later arrested by Pakistan in 2010 under Barack Obama's directions.

Later, in 2018, Afghan envoy Zalmay Khalilzad asked for Baradar's release to get his support in negotiating a power-sharing agreement between the Taliban and the Afghan government. After a series of talks in Doha, on February 2020, the US vowed not to fight against the Taliban, pull out troops from the nation completely while the Taliban will participate in a power-sharing deal with the Afghan government. With Ashraf Gahni fleeing to UAE, Baradar is pipped to be the state head of Afghanistan.

Taliban Takeover

The Taliban took over Kabul on Sunday after major cities like Kandahar, Herat, Mazar-e-Sharif, Jalalabad and Lashkar Gah fell without resistance as US troops retreat after 20 years from war-torn Afghanistan. The hasty withdrawal of the US troops saw thousands of people attempting to flee from Afghanistan with several clinging to a departing US plane's wheels, leading to them falling to their deaths. With the US troops taking over the Kabul airport, US President Joe Biden has defended the troops' withdrawal, blaming Afghan govt and troops of not putting up a fight. While ex-President Ashraf Ghani has fled to UAE, his vice-president - Amrullah Saleh has annointed himself as 'legitimate caretaker President' of Afghanistan and is reportedly in the Panjshir province, allegedly cobbling up a resistance against the Taliban. Evacuation of Afghans and other nationals is underway from Kabul airport which is under US troops' control.