Taliban co-founder and deputy prime minister Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar has responded to reports of a split within the Taliban government in Afghanistan within days. Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar on Wednesday denied internal rifts in the new caretaker government of the Taliban in Afghanistan and denied that he was injured during a clash at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in Kabul. Earlier, senior Taliban members told the BBC that members of two opposing factions of the interim government had clashed at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in Kabul last week. The question of who contributed more to the victory against America was the center of debate.
In an interview with Afghan National TV, Mullah Baradar denied reports that he was injured or killed in a brawl at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in Kabul last week, reports CNN. When asked about these reports in the media, Baradar said, 'No, it is not true at all. Thank Allah that I am fit and healthy. And there is no truth in the media claim that we have internal disagreements or internal squabbles.
Baradar said that we have made sacrifices and fought for many years to end the occupation of foreign forces in Afghanistan. This sacrifice and struggle is neither for power nor for position. It is known that reports of differences in the Taliban government have been gaining momentum since the disappearance of Deputy Prime Minister Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar from public forums. It was also claimed on social media that Mullah Baradar was killed in a clash between the Haqqani network and Taliban fighters at Rashtrapati Bhavan. However, Mulla Baradar later issued an audio message terming the reports of his death as false and baseless.
It was also reported that he had fled Kabul after a clash with the Haqqani network. Baradar said he was traveling outside Kabul without telling the media to refute the claim. Therefore, we assure the Afghan nation and all senior and junior mujahideen that they should not worry at all and there is nothing to worry about, he said.
Baradar was also asked why he did not meet Qatar's foreign minister when he went to Kabul on Sunday. As CNN reports, Baradar was not seen with the acting Prime Minister of Afghanistan, Mullah Mohammed Hassan Akhund, when he met with Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani. In response, Baradar said that we were not aware that the Foreign Minister was coming from Qatar. Had we known, we would have postponed our trip. And we were on a trip, so the meeting didn't happen.
He further said that it was not possible for us to return from the trip to meet the External Affairs Minister. If we had received the news earlier, we might have joined the meeting with other friends. Taliban officials said Baradar had gone to Kandahar, where the group's supreme leader Haibatullah Akhundzada lives. Baradar is believed to have gone to Kandahar to complain to Haqqani's Ankhudzada. Baradar heads the Taliban's political office and led the Doha talks with the former government and the United States.
Some people hoped that he would be made the Prime Minister, but even after a lot of brainstorming about the new government, Baradar was not made the Prime Minister.
A Taliban source said a sharp exchange of words broke out between Mullah Baradar and Khalil-ur-Rahman Haqqani at Rashtrapati Bhavan last week. Gradually, the supporters of both also clashed with each other. Haqqani has been made minister of refugee affairs in the interim government of Afghanistan. He is one of the key commanders of the Haqqani network. A senior official of the Taliban's political office in Qatar also confirmed the tussle between Mullah Baradar and Haqqani.
face to face
- The Mullah Baradar faction believes that the return of the Taliban to power in Afghanistan should be attributed to diplomatic initiatives taken by top commanders like him
- At the same time, the Haqqani group says that the credit for the victory over the US should go to the Taliban and Haqqani network fighters who fought with foreign and Afghan forces
