Abdul Ghani Baradar

Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar (Persian: عبدالغنی برادر; born 1968),[1] also called Mullah Baradar Akhund or Mullah Brother,[2][3] is a co-founder of the Taliban in Afghanistan.[4] 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[5] and was released on 24 October 2018[6] at the request of the United States.[7]

Abdul Ghani Baradar
Baradar in 2020
Nickname(s)Mullah Baradar
Born1968 (age 52–53)
Weetmak Village, Deh Rahwod District, Oruzgan, Afghanistan
Allegiance Taliban
RankCommander
Battles/warsSoviet–Afghan War
Civil war in Afghanistan (1996–2001)
War on Terrorism:

Early life and Taliban career

Baradar was born in 1968 in the Weetmak village of Deh Rahwod District in Oruzgan Province of Afghanistan.[1] He is a Durrani Pashtun of the Popalzai tribe.[8] He fought during the 1980s in the Soviet–Afghan War in Kandahar (mainly in the Panjwayi area) and served in the Afghan mujahideen against the Soviet-backed Afghan government.[9] He later operated a madrassa in Maiwand, Kandahar Province, alongside his former commander, Mohammad Omar. According to Western media, Omar and Baradar may be brothers-in-law via marriage to two sisters.[10] In 1994, he helped Omar found the Taliban in southern Afghanistan.[11]

During Taliban rule (1996–2001), Baradar held a variety of posts. He was reportedly governor of Herat and Nimruz provinces,[12][13] and/or the Corps Commander for western Afghanistan.[10] An unclassified U.S. State Department document lists him as the former Deputy Chief of Army Staff and Commander of Central Army Corps, Kabul[14] while Interpol states that he was the Taliban's Deputy Minister of Defense.[1]

War in Afghanistan
Main article: War in Afghanistan (2001–present)

Following the September 11, 2001 attacks, the United States invaded Afghanistan and deposed the Taliban with the help of Afghan forces. Baradar fought against the U.S.-supported Northern Alliance and, according to Newsweek, "hopped on a motorcycle and drove his old friend [Omar] to safety in the mountains" in November 2001 as Taliban defenses were crumbling.[10] One story holds that a U.S.-linked Afghan force actually seized Baradar and other Taliban figures sometime that month, but Pakistani intelligence secured their release.[15] Another story reported by Dutch journalist Bette Dam contends that Baradar actually saved Hamid Karzai's life when the latter had entered Afghanistan to build an anti-Taliban force.[16]

The new Afghan government was organized in accordance with the December 2001 Bonn Agreement; Hamid Karzai served as interim leader and later President of Afghanistan. Baradar now found himself fighting international forces and the newly formed Afghan government. Many fellow Taliban commanders were killed over the years following the initial invasion, including Baradar's rival Mullah Dadullah who was killed in Helmand Province in 2007. Baradar eventually rose to lead the Quetta Shura and became the de facto leader of the Taliban, directing the insurgency from Pakistan. Temperament-wise he has been described as acting as "an old-fashioned Pashtun tribal head" and a consensus builder.[10]

Despite his military activities, Baradar was reportedly behind several attempts to begin peace talks, specifically in 2004 and 2009,[10] and widely seen as a potentially key part of a negotiated peace deal.[17][18]

Capture in February 2010

On February 8, 2010, he was captured near Karachi during a morning raid,[5][19][20][21][22] and U.S. officials claimed the capture could represent a "turning point" in the struggle with the Taliban.[20] Pakistan only confirmed the capture more than a week later and there was no confirmation from Pakistani officials that it was a joint U.S.-Pakistani operation,[23] in fact the Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik denied that it was.[24] Other sources have suggested that the capture was a lucky accident, with Baradar picked up along with others in a raid based on intelligence supplied by the United States.[25] Besides the newspaper Dawn, the story was largely ignored in the Pakistani press when it initially broke.[26]

Although some analysts saw Baradar's capture as a significant shift in Pakistan's position,[27] others claimed that Pakistan captured Baradar to stop his negotiations with the Karzai government, so that Pakistan would get a seat at the table[28]—because an agreement between the Taliban and the Karzai government could deprive Pakistan of influence in Afghanistan.[29]

Another view contends that Pakistani General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani is using the series of Taliban arrests to help extend his own career beyond his slated November retirement date, the theory being that this would raise his standing among American policymakers and thus press the Pakistani government to retain him.[30]

Aftermath

The Afghan government was reportedly holding secret talks with Baradar and his arrest is said to have infuriated President Hamid Karzai.[31] Despite repeated claims that Pakistan would deliver Baradar to Afghanistan if formally asked to do so,[32] and that his extradition was underway,[33] he was expressly excluded from the list of Taliban leaders planned to be released by Pakistan in November 2012.[34]

Mullah Abdul Qayyum Zakir became the Taliban military leader after Baradar's arrest. Nine Taliban leaders, not including Baradar, were released on 23 November 2012.[35]

Release
US representative Zalmay Khalilzad (left) and Baradar (right) sign the Agreement for Bringing Peace to Afghanistan in Doha, Qatar on 29 February 2020

On 25 October 2018, the Taliban confirmed that Pakistan released Mullah Baradar.[36] He was subsequently appointed to be the chief of the Taliban's diplomatic office in Doha, Qatar.[37] Washington special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad claimed that Mullah Baradar was released at the request of the United States.[7]

In February 2020, Baradar signed the agreement on the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan on behalf of the Taliban.[38]

See also

References
  1. "BERADAR, Abdul Ghani". Interpol. Retrieved 2010-02-16.
  2. "Taliban-led insurgency leaves 3 dozen dead, injured in Afghanistan". Xinhua. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
  3. Taliban leader rules out talks with U.S., Afghan gov't
  4. "Profile: Mullah Abdul Ghani Beradar". BBC. 2010-02-17. Retrieved 2010-04-14.
  5. "Taliban commander Mullah Beradar 'seized in Pakistan'". BBC News. 2010-02-16. Archived from the original on 18 February 2010. Retrieved 2010-02-16.
  6. Mashal, Mujib; Shah, Taimoor (October 25, 2018). "Taliban Deputy Is Released Amid Push for Afghan Peace Talks" – via NYTimes.com.
  7. "Pakistan frees Taliban co-founder at US request; will play constructive role in Afghan peace initiative". National Herald.
  8. Giustozzi, Antonio (2008). Koran, Kalashnikov, and laptop: the neo-Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan. Columbia University Press. p. 47. ISBN 978-0-231-70009-2.
  9. Green, Matthew (2010-02-16). "Taliban strategist was seen as future negotiator". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 17 February 2010. Retrieved 2010-02-16.
  10. Moreau, Ron (2009-07-25). "America's New Nightmare". Newsweek. Archived from the original on 8 February 2010. Retrieved 2010-02-16.
  11. "Profile: Mullah Abdul Ghani Beradar". BBC News. 2010-02-16. Archived from the original on 18 February 2010. Retrieved 2010-02-16.
  12. "The Hunt For Bin Laden". TIME. 2001-11-26. Retrieved 2010-02-16.
  13. Adamec, Ludwig W. (2005). Volume 30 of Historical dictionary of Afghan wars, revolutions, and insurgencies. Rowman & Littlefield. p. lxxxiii. ISBN 0-8108-4948-8.
  14. "B1, 1.4(D)" (PDF). US State Department. Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 February 2010. Retrieved 2010-02-16.
  15. Mazzetti, Mark; Filkins, Dexter (2010-02-16). "Secret Joint Raid Captures Taliban's Top Commander". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 22 February 2010. Retrieved 2010-02-16.
  16. Dam, Bette (2010-02-16). "Mullah Beradar: friend or foe?". Radio Netherlands Worldwide. Archived from the original on 2010-02-19. Retrieved 2010-02-16.
  17. "Afghanistan’s peace hopes rest on Mullah Beradar" Archived 2012-08-25 at the Wayback Machine, Reuters, August 23, 2012
  18. "Pakistan grants Afghan officials access to a top Taliban leader", Abdulaziz Ibrahimi and Michael Georgy, Reuters / August 12, 2012
  19. Shah, Saeed (2010-02-16). "Afghanistan's No. 2 Taliban leader captured in Pakistan". McClatchy News Service. Retrieved 2010-02-16.
  20. "Capture may be turning point in Taliban fight". CNN. 2010-02-16. Retrieved 2010-02-16.
  21. "Taliban leader's arrest a new blow to insurgents". Yahoo! News. Associated Press. 16 Feb 2010.
  22. A White house spokesman shortly afterwards described his capture "a big success for our mutual efforts in the region", Patricia Zengerle (17 Feb 2010). "White House hails capture of Taliban leader". AP Newswire.
  23. "Pakistan confirms Taliban arrest". BBC News. 2010-02-17. Archived from the original on 17 February 2010. Retrieved 2010-02-17.
  24. "Mullah Baradar arrest reports propaganda: Rehman Malik". Dawn. 2010-02-16. Archived from the original on 17 February 2010. Retrieved 2010-02-16.
  25. "a lucky accident," as one American official called it. "No one knew what they were getting," he said.Scott Shane and Eric Schmitt (18 Feb 2010). "In Pakistan Raid, Taliban Chief was Extra Prize". The New York Times.
  26. Khan, M Ilyas (2010-02-17). "'Muted' Pakistan media response to Taliban arrest". BBC News. Archived from the original on 18 February 2010. Retrieved 2010-02-17.
  27. The capture of Beradar and the Afghan Taliban governors is only the most recent and highly visible signal of the possible shift. Eric Rosenbach (21 Feb 2010). "Pakistan Smart to Hit Taliban". The Boston Globe.
  28. American Embassy in Kabul (10 Feb 2010). "Leaked US diplomatic cable Wikileaks ref number 10KABUL693". WikiLeaks. Archived from the original on 2010-12-08. Retrieved 2010-12-08.
  29. An agreement between the Taliban and the Karzai government could deprive Pakistan of influence in next-door Afghanistan. Editorial (22 Feb 2010). "Pakistan's Complicated Motives". The Boston Globe.
  30. Shahzad, Syed Saleem (2010-02-23). "Pakistan: Detained Taliban leaders 'linked to ISI'". Adnkronos. Archived from the original on 24 February 2010. Retrieved 2010-02-25.
  31. "Aide: Karzai `very angry' at Taliban boss' arrest", DEB RIECHMANN and KATHY GANNON, The Associated Press March 15, 2010
  32. Hussain, Zahid (2010-02-24), "Pakistan Offers Taliban Official to Afghans", The Wall Street Journal, archived from the original on 25 February 2010, retrieved 2010-02-24
  33. Salahuddin, Sayed (2010-02-25). "Pakistan to hand over Taliban No 2, says Afghanistan". Reuters. Retrieved 2010-02-25.
  34. "Pakistan agrees to set free Taliban leaders", 14 Nov 2012, Baqir Sajjad Syed, Dawn.com
  35. Ali K. Chishti (2012-11-24). "Change of Heart?". The Friday Times. Archived from the original on 2012-11-28. Retrieved 2012-11-28. "We are disappointed that the Pakistanis did not release Mullah Beradar", a member of an Afghan peace delegation said, "but we are very happy that it made the decision to release some of the detainees".
  36. https://alemarah-english.com/?p=36675
  37. Roggio, Bill (January 24, 2019). "Mullah Beradar appointed head of Taliban's 'political office' in Qatar". Long War Journal. “In accordance with the decree issued by the Leader of Islamic Emirate, the esteemed Mullah Abdul Ghani Beradar has been appointed as the deputy of the Leader in Political Affairs and the chief of the Political Office of the Islamic Emirate,” the Taliban statement said.
  38. "Trump says Taliban deal to 'bring our people home'". BBC News. 2020-02-29. Retrieved 2020-03-01.
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