Taliban Co-Founder Mullah Baradar To Lead New Afghan Govt: Report

Kabul: Taliban co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar will lead the new Afghan government set to be announced shortly, sources in the Islamist group said on Friday, as it battled rebel fighters in Panjshir Valley and strived to ward off an economic collapse in the country.

Baradar, who heads the outfit’s political office, will be joined by Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob, the son of late Taliban co-founder Mullah Omar, and Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai, in senior positions in the government, three sources said.

“All the top leaders have arrived in Kabul, where preparations are in final stages to announce the new government,” one Taliban official told news agency Reuters, on condition of anonymity.

Haibatullah Akhunzada, the Taliban’s supreme religious leader, will focus on religious matters and governance within the framework of Islam, another Taliban source said.