Abdul Ghani Baradar

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Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar is one of the four Taliban leaders who founded the Taliban in Afghanistan, also known as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan or the Taliban state, an Islamic state ruled by the Taliban, an Islamist militant group. He rose to prominence in 1996 when he became the deputy of Mullah Mohammed Omar who led the Taliban. Baradar is the second-highest-ranking Taliban leader after Haibatullah Akhundzada. Habibatullah Akhundzada is the Talibans overall leader; however, Baradar is its most popular public face.He has become more prominent within the Afghan Taliban movement since his capture by a joint operation of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officers in February 2010 and subsequent release on 24 October 2018.As a child, he witnessed a variety of dramatic events occurring in Afghanistan as he grew up in Kandhar, an Afghan city believed to be the epicenter of the Taliban movement. [5]WION.During the Soviet invasion of the country in the late 1970s, Baradars life was forever changed, and he became an insurgent. [6]WION.As a mujahideen fighter in Afghanistan, Baradar and Mullah Mohammed Omar fought side by side against the Soviets during the 1980s. [7]The Guardian The two became close friends when they were teenagers. [8]Financial Times Omar, despite losing one eye in combat, is known for his skills in knocking out Russian tanks with rocket-propelled grenades. Reportedly, it was Omar who nicknamed him Baradar. [9]Financial Times Mullah Mohammed Omar.In the course of the war, Baradar and Mullah Mohammed Omar travelled to Maiwand, where Baradar served in a mujahedeen unit under Omars command. Along the way, they are believed to have married two sisters, and thus, they are brothers-in-law. [10]Newsweek However, Zaeef, who fought alongside them in Maiwand, asserts that they are not related by marriage. Zaeef says, Their friendship is more important than any family relation..Baradar is viewed as a cunning, little-known figure by US officials, who is possibly even more dangerous than Mullah Mohammed Omar.In the aftermath of the Soviet withdrawal from Kabul and the collapse of the Kremlins puppet regime, Omar and Baradar sought to settle in Maiwand and establish their own madrassa; however, local warlords, who had resorted to kidnapping and raping village girls, disgusted them. With 30 men and half that number of rifles, Omar led a revolt against them after he recruited Baradar as his first recruit.As the movement, led by Baradar and Omar, grew, it soon dominated most of Afghanistan. In Kandahar, Baradar served as Mullah Omars right hand, and then he became Omars corps commander for western Afghanistan, and later he led the fight against mujahedin commanders in Kabul. Baradar rose to become Mullah Omars most trusted and most important military commander over the following decades.During the US bombing of Kandahar in November 2001, Mullah Baradar took his friend Omar on a motorcycle to safety in the mountains. According to reports, Mullah Omar died of tuberculosis in a hospital in Karachi in 2013. On 29 July 2015, the Afghan government officially announced that Mullah Omar had died in 2013. [11]The New York Times A newspaper displaying the news about Mullah Mohammed Omars death.