NEW DELHI: Speculation intensifies over the fate of Afghanistan’s deputy director of government, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, after Taliban leaders meet with senior Qatari delegates in Kabul on Sunday, with Baradar visibly absent at the meeting, the Daily Mail reported.
On Monday, the Taliban were forced to deny that Mullah Baradar was dead after rumors surfaced that he was killed during a fight with his political rivals.
The Taliban insisted that Baradar is in Kandahar province, meeting with the group’s supreme leader, Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhundzada, to discuss the country’s future now that US troops have withdrawn.
But the social media rumor mill believes it died Friday in a gun battle at Kabul’s presidential palace on Friday that erupted during a meeting with the powerful and ruthless Haqqani family, according to the report.
Three members of the Haqqani family were at the summit with delegates from Qatar along with other members of the new Afghan government, led by Prime Minister Mohammad Hasan Akhund, according to the report.
Baradar is one of the founding members of the Taliban and had served as deputy for its first supreme leader Mullah Omar, who died in 2013 from tuberculosis.
After Omar’s death, Baradar assumed the leadership of the Taliban’s political wing and is one of the group’s most important figures.
But he is believed to be in conflict with the Haqqani family, leaders of the dreaded Taliban-affiliated Haqqani network, but who also has links to anti-Islamist terrorist groups such as ISIS-K.
Two members of the clan – Sirajuddin and Khalil – now hold senior positions in the new government, taking on the roles of interior minister and refugee minister, respectively.
Anna Haqqani also plays a high-level negotiating role and was present during the meeting with Qatari diplomats.
Rumors about Baradar’s security began circulating last week when the Taliban announced his new government and appointed him deputy prime minister, despite widespread belief that he would assume the top post.
This led to speculation that he had been degraded due to fighting between founding members of the Taliban and the Haqqani Network, a powerful Taliban faction, whose relatives secured top positions in the new administration, according to the report.
On Monday, the Taliban were forced to deny that Mullah Baradar was dead after rumors surfaced that he was killed during a fight with his political rivals.
The Taliban insisted that Baradar is in Kandahar province, meeting with the group’s supreme leader, Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhundzada, to discuss the country’s future now that US troops have withdrawn.
But the social media rumor mill believes it died Friday in a gun battle at Kabul’s presidential palace on Friday that erupted during a meeting with the powerful and ruthless Haqqani family, according to the report.
Three members of the Haqqani family were at the summit with delegates from Qatar along with other members of the new Afghan government, led by Prime Minister Mohammad Hasan Akhund, according to the report.
Baradar is one of the founding members of the Taliban and had served as deputy for its first supreme leader Mullah Omar, who died in 2013 from tuberculosis.
After Omar’s death, Baradar assumed the leadership of the Taliban’s political wing and is one of the group’s most important figures.
But he is believed to be in conflict with the Haqqani family, leaders of the dreaded Taliban-affiliated Haqqani network, but who also has links to anti-Islamist terrorist groups such as ISIS-K.
Two members of the clan – Sirajuddin and Khalil – now hold senior positions in the new government, taking on the roles of interior minister and refugee minister, respectively.
Anna Haqqani also plays a high-level negotiating role and was present during the meeting with Qatari diplomats.
Rumors about Baradar’s security began circulating last week when the Taliban announced his new government and appointed him deputy prime minister, despite widespread belief that he would assume the top post.
This led to speculation that he had been degraded due to fighting between founding members of the Taliban and the Haqqani Network, a powerful Taliban faction, whose relatives secured top positions in the new administration, according to the report.