Afghan deputy PM Baradar discusses security situation with Kyrgyz delegation

Deputy Prime Minister of Afghanistan Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar on Thursday met a Kyrgyzstan delegation led by its national security adviser and discussed bilateral relations including security issues.

“Deputy Prime Minister of the Islamic Emirate today Mullah Baradar Akhund met with Kyrgyz National Security Adviser Talat Beg. Bilateral political, economic and security issues were discussed at the meeting,” said Taliban spokesperson, who is also a deputy acting information minister, Zabihullah Mujahid in a tweet.

The Kyrgyz delegation, Mujahid said, called upon regional countries “to support the new government of Afghanistan, provide humanitarian assistance and establish good relations with it”.

The meeting comes days after the Taliban quashed reports of differences between their senior members over the makeup of the interim government which provided grist to the rumour mills and set off a guessing game in the media.

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Anas Haqqani of the Haqqani Network and Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar made video statements to deny the rumours of schisms within the Taliban hierarchy over the caretaker set-up.

The development came days after reports went viral on social media of an armed scuffle between Baradar and Haqqani at the presidential palace in Kabul in which the former was reportedly fatally wounded.

Baradar was reportedly not happy with the clerics-dominated interim government which doesn’t have representation from women and other ethnic groups of the country.

He was quick to deny the reports of his death in an audio statement but his conspicuous absence from Kabul fuelled rumours of persisting differences within the Taliban.