There seems to be a huge crash in the new Taliban government. There is no trace of the Islamists’ unity, as it appears from the outside.
The Deputy Prime Minister Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar (53) has not appeared in public since last week. It is said that he traveled to Kandahar or – depending on your point of view – fled.
There are rumors that there was a dispute between supporters of Baradar and supporters of Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani. BBC reports that the Islamists even attacked each other with their fists in the presidential palace.
Dispute over alignment
The reason for the noise is said to have been the future direction and composition of the government. Baradar stands for a relatively diplomatic course with the West, the Haqqanis rely on confrontation and military means. The Haqqani network, headed by the Home Secretary, has been classified as a terrorist group by the United States.
In the meantime there were also reports that Baradar had been shot. A spokesman for the Islamists rejected this and published a video that Baradar is said to show at a meeting in Kandahar. However, it has not been confirmed whether the video is real.
Supreme Taliban leader Mullah Hibatullah Achundsada (60) has also been swallowed by the earth, which brings back memories of the disappearance of Taliban co-founder Mullah Omar. The head of state of the first Taliban rule died in a hospital in 2013 – possibly of tuberculosis – but his death was not officially confirmed until two years later. (gf)