KARACHI:
The chief commander of the Taliban, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, is also the de facto president of Afghanistan. He fought in the Afghan Mujahideen forces against the Soviet Union in the 1980s. After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1989, Afghanistan underwent civil unrest, which was followed by civil war. The Taliban eventually emerged successful in the civil war and ruled in Afghanistan from 1996 till 2001. During that time, Mullah Baradar served senior positions including chief of military in Kabul as well the defence minister of Afghanistan.
According to reports, when the US troops arrived in Afghanistan in November 2001, the Taliban took refuge in the mountains. Between 2004, and 2007, several reports circulated in the media that Mullah Baradar had given up on achieving peace with the Afghan government. Since then, Mullah Baradar was not heard of in Afghanistan until recently. In 2010, he was arrested by the Pakistani government for using Pakistani land to create an insurgency against Afghanistan. However, a New York Times report suggested that Mullah Baradar’s arrest helped Pakistan increase its influence in negotiations with the US. Before the arrest, the negotiations and operations were running solely based on US decisions. In 2018, Mullah Baradar was released to participate in the peace talks commencing in Doha with the US government.
Mullah Baradar has gained a name and popularity amongst the Muslim world since his release. He is now expected to lead the Afghan government. Perhaps, he can bring the long-awaited change and restore peace in Afghanistan.
Mohd Waris
Turbat
Published in The Express Tribune, September 4th, 2021.
Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.
