Kabul: Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar has been declared the new President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, multiple reoprts by news agencies said Sunday citing Taliban sources.
Mullah Abdul Ghani was declared President of Afghanistan after Ashraf Ghani, former President of the West-supported government, fled the country.
Born in 1968, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, also called Mullah Baradar Akhund, is the co-founder of the Taliban in Afghanistan.He was the Deputy of Mullah Mohammed Omar.
Baradar was captured in Pakistan by a team of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officers in February 2010 and was released on 24 October 2018 at the request of the United States.
During the first Taliban rule (1996–2001), Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar held a variety of posts. He was the Governor of Herat and Nimruz provinces, and the Corps Commander for western Afghanistan.
An unclassified U.S. State Department document lists him as the former Deputy Chief of Army Staff and Commander of Central Army Corps, Kabul while Interpol states that he was the Taliban's Deputy Minister of Defense.
Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar currently heads the political office of the Taliban and was part of the group’s negotiating team in Doha, Qatar.
The Taliban are claiming to have taken over the presidential palace in Kabul, BBC reported.
Two officials from the Taliban told the wire there would be no transitional government following their lighting sweep across Afghanistan that led back to the capital two decades after the group were overthrown by US-led forces.
Taliban fighters reached Kabul "from all sides", the senior Interior Ministry official told the wire and there were some reports of sporadic gunfire around the city.
The Taliban issued a statement under the "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan" banner saying the group has now been permitted to enter Kabul.
The statement claimed that Afghan police and other relevant institutions abandoned their duties and that to "prevent theft, looting and crime", the group's forces have been allowed to enter the capital.
"The Taliban will secure areas abandoned by Afghan forces in Kabul," said the statement.
It sought to assure citizens that the forces will neither enter their homes, nor "bother them".
Press Association citing a Taliban official had earlier reported that the Taliban, who on Sunday entered capital, Kabul, are on the verge of declaring that they have taken control of the country and that it is now the "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan".
The declaration is expected to be made from the presidential palace in Kabul, Press Association said.
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