The whereabouts of Afghanistan Deputy Prime Minister Mullah Baradar are still unknown as there is an open power struggle within the Taliban ranks. Also, the whereabouts of the Taliban’s spiritual leader Haibatullah Akhundzada remains unknown and some have speculated he might be even dead.
UK-based magazine The Spectator on Monday (September 20) reported that a recent clash during the government formation between the Baradar faction and the Haqqani network may have led to the disappearance of the co-founder of the Taliban and the former has now most likely emerged as the “principal loser”.
It is well known that the Haqqani Network is one of the major proxies of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) which did not want Baradar to take power in Afghanistan and threw its weight behind the Haqqanis when ISI chief Lt Gen Faiz Hameed travelled to Kabul to smooth things over.
Gen Hameed is the same senior Pakistan military officer who as per reports was shot by his wife after she caught him with another woman Aroosa Alam who is also well known in India.
It has emerged that the Mullah Baradar and Mullah Akhundzada camp wanted to make some concessions in order to gain legitimacy but after the backing of the Pakistan Army, all key positions have now been the hardline Haqqani network and it wants to extend Jihad to central Asia and India.
According to a report published in The Spectator, both sides clashed in early September which saw “furniture as well as large thermos flasks full of hot green tea thrown around”.
Haqqani network leader Khalil-ul-Rahman Haqqani actually rose from his chair and began punching Baradar after the latter had pushed for an “inclusive” cabinet that included non-Taliban leaders and ethnic minorities, which would be more acceptable to the rest of the world.
To quell the rumours of his Baradar disappearance, a meeting of tribal leaders was held who are supporting him, but was also forced to release a video message on the state-run TV network controlled by the Taliban which many thought “looked like a hostage video”, The Spectator reported.
However, the whereabouts of Akhundzada who was supposed to be the Amir-ul-Momineen (Commander of the faithful) is not known. “He has not been seen or heard from for some time, and there are many rumors that he is dead,” reported The Spectator.
It must be noted that the Taliban had kept the death of its first leader Mullah Omar a secret for few years and there is a vacuum at the top which could lead to civil war.
It must be noted that Mullah Baradar spent nearly ten years in a Pakistani prison where he was allegedly tortured by the ISI. When he was released from prison, it was he who led the Doha talks and try to project a moderate image of the Taliban.
On the other hand, the Haqqanis have been responsible for numerous suicide attacks and it is one of its Modus Operandi to terrorise opponents and also they are very close to Pakistan’s security apparatus and take their name from the Darul Uloom Haqqania madrassa near Islamabad.
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