Mullah Baradar, a co-founder of the Taliban, is in Kabul for discussions on forming a government.

KABUL: Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, a co-founder of the Taliban, arrived in Kabul on Saturday for discussions on forming a new “inclusive” administration in Afghanistan, which the Pakistani ambassador has described as a “complicated and arduous” process.

Khalil Haqqani, one of America’s most wanted terrorists with a $5 million reward on his head, has also been sighted in the city in recent days.

Pro-Taliban social media accounts showed Haqqani with Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a former bitter adversary during Afghanistan’s horrific civil war in the early 1990s who is still powerful in the country’s politics.

Baradar will meet “jihadi leaders and politicians for an inclusive government setup,” a senior Taliban official told AFP.

Baradar landed in Afghanistan last Tuesday from Qatar, landing in Kandahar, the country’s second-largest city and the spiritual birthplace of the Taliban.

The gang proclaimed its rule would be “different” this time within hours of his return.
The Taliban have stated that this version of their administration will be “inclusive,” but have not specified who will be included.

Baradar was arrested in Pakistan in 2010 and held in jail until he was released and moved to Qatar in 2018 as a result of US pressure.

He was named chief of the Taliban’s political office in Doha, where he oversaw the signing of the deal that led to the withdrawal of US soldiers and the end of their 20-year war.

Khalil Haqqani, the uncle of Taliban deputy commander Sirajuddin Haqqani, was photographed conducting prayers at a mosque in Kabul on Friday.


Anas Haqqani, a prominent figure in the so-called Haqqani network, was also in the city, where he visited former President Hamid Karzai and Abdullah Abdullah, who oversaw the previous administration’s overall peace initiative.