Taliban co-founder Baradar in Kabul for talks on new government

Kabul: Taliban's co-founding leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar arrived in Kabul on Saturday for talks on forming a new "inclusive" government in Afghanistan, reports Agence France-Presse.

Baradar flew from Qatar and landed in Kandahar, the Taliban's spiritual birthplace, last Tuesday. Within hours of his return, the terrorist group announced that its rule would be different this time. Though they proclaimed that the new administration would be "inclusive", they only gave few details on who or what would be included.

Baradar was arrested in Pakistan in 2010 and was freed from custody in 2018 after pressure from the US, and he was sent to Qatar. He was appointed as the head of the Taliban's political office in Doha. He had overseen the signing of the agreement that led the US forces to withdraw and end the 20-year campaign.

Taliban stood for no negotiations with the Afghan government, overrun the country in two weeks, and took Kabul on Sunday.

Senior Taliban leader Khalil Haqqani, one of America's most wanted with a 5-million-dollar bounty on his head, was also reported to be present in the capital city. Haqqani was seen leading prayers at a mosque in Kabul. He is Taliban deputy leader Sirajuddin Haqqani's uncle.

Social media handles affiliated to the Taliban showed Haqqani meeting Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a former rival during the civil war of the early 1990s, but still has a stronghold on Afghan politics.

Another leader, Anas Haqqani, was also in the capital meeting former president Hamid Karzai.