The dreaded Taliban co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar – who was once nicknamed “Baradar the butcher” – will lead the new Afghan government, sources in the militant group told Reuters.
The new Taliban-led government has yet to be announced nearly three weeks after militants take control of Afghanistan.
Baradar, who currently heads the Taliban’s political office, will be joined by Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob, son of the late Taliban co-founder Mullah Omar, and Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, in senior government positions, according to sources.
Taliban supreme religious leader Haibatullah Akhundzada will also focus on religious issues and how to govern within the framework of Islam, a source added.
“All the top leaders have arrived in Kabul, where preparations are in the final stages of announcing the new government,” a Taliban official said.
Despite initially stating that they wanted to form a consensus government, the Taliban now only consider a format solely for Taliban members, according to sources.
The new government will include 25 ministries and an advisory board of 12 Muslim scholars.
Baradar, whose brutal story attracted the nickname “Baradar the Butcher,” arrived in Kabul two weeks ago to start talks on the new government.
Baradar started the Taliban in 1994 with the late leader Mullah Mohammed Omar.
He later became known for some of the deadliest tactics of Islamic militants, including planting improvised explosive devices through the streets of his enemies, calling IEDs “flowers,” according to a 2010 profile in the Times of London.
He has lived in Pakistan, where he was arrested in 2010, but later released in 2018.
Baradar is the only surviving Taliban leader who has been personally appointed deputy by the late Taliban commander Mullah Mohammed Omar.
Taliban fighters – who took control of Kabul on August 15 – are currently fighting forces in the Panjshir Valley, north of Kabul, still loyal to the overthrown government.
Meanwhile, following the deadly U.S. withdrawal from Kabul earlier this week, the Biden administration has pressured Pakistan to help with terrorist groups such as ISIS-K and Al Qaeda, Politico reports.
Pakistan, however, has downplayed what a Taliban-led government could mean for Afghanistan.
Discussions are included in unsorted emails and cables obtained by the dam. In an exchange with a State Department official, Pakistani Ambassador to the United States Asad Majeed Khan questioned reports that Taliban fighters were pursuing enemies.
The ambassador said the Taliban “did not seek retribution and in fact went from house to house to assure Afghans that there would be no retaliation.”
The push to fight terrorist groups in Afghanistan comes after a ISIS-K suicide bomber killed 13 members of the U.S. service and more than 170 Afghans in an attack outside Kabul airport a week ago.
President Biden visited the 15 injured service members at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center outside Washington on Thursday.
With publishing cables