Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, head of the Taliban’s political office, arrived in Kabul on Saturday from Kandahar, to hold talks on setting up a new government in Afghanistan.
Other senior Taliban leaders who have arrived in the Afghan capital in the past few days include Khalil al-Rahman Haqqani, a key member of the Haqqani network, who is proscribed by the US and has a bounty of $5 million on his head.
Haqqani met Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, leader of Hezb-e-Islami of Afghanistan and a former prime minister, a few days ago for talks on a new Taliban government.
Baradar is the senior most Taliban leader and is widely expected to become president of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.
He was appointed head of the Taliban’s political office in Doha, where he oversaw the signing of the agreement that led to the US forces to withdraw and end their 20-year campaign.
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Baradar, 53, is one of four men who founded the Taliban in Afghanistan in 1994.
He is of the Durani tribe of ethnic Pashtuns, and served as provincial governor and deputy defence minister during the Taliban’s rule.
He was arrested in Karachi, Pakistan’s port city, in 2010 and released in October 2018 at the request of the US. He is in charge of the Doha Peace Office.
Last year, he became the first Taliban leader to communicate directly with a US president after having a telephone conversation with Donald Trump.
