Taliban’s Abdul Baradar To Lead New Afghanistan Government: Report

Haibatullah Akhundzada will focus on religious matters and governance within the framework of Islam.

Taliban co-founder Abdul Baradar.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

Abdul Ghani Baradar, who is the political chief and the popular face of the military organisation, will lead the new government in Afghanistan, sources in the Taliban told Reuters on Friday, 3 September.

The Taliban had announced on Wednesday that a new government has been finalised after deliberations, and will be unveiled soon.

Earlier, reports had indicated that the organisation's supreme leader, Haibatullah Akhundzada, will be the head of the new government. However, it is now expected that Akhundzada will focus on religious matters and matters of governance that fall within the framework of Islam.

Baradar will be joined by Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob, the son of late Taliban co-founder Mullah Omar, and Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai, in senior positions in the government, Reuters said quoting sources.

A Taliban official was quoted as saying, "All the top leaders have arrived in Kabul, where preparations are in final stages to announce the new government.”

Meanwhile, Bilal Karimi, a member of the group's cultural commission, had said on Wednesday that Akhundzada will be the top leader of any governing council.

Baradar on the other hand, who is one of Akhundzada's three deputies, is likely to be in charge of the daily functioning of the government, Karimi added, Bloomberg reported.

It is crucial for the Taliban to have a legitimate government in order to handle the impending economic crisis as a result of the long-drawn war that killed over 2,00,000 Afghans.

On 15 August, the Taliban had taken over the presidential palace in Afghanistan, striking the last nail in the coffin for the United States-backed Afghan government, as President Ashraf Ghani fled the country, conceding that the Taliban had won the 20-year war.

(With inputs from Reuters and Bloomberg)