Abdul Ghani Baradar , the Taliban leader freed from a Pakistani jail on the request of the US less than three years ago, has emerged as an "undisputed victor" of the 20-year war in Afghanistan , according to a British media report.While Haibatullah Akhundzada is the Taliban's overall leader, Baradar is its political chief and its most public face. He was said to be on his way from his office in Doha, Qatar, to Kabul on Sunday evening.In a televised statement on the fall of Kabul, he said the Taliban's real test was only just beginning and that they had to serve the nation, The Guardian newspaper reported on Sunday.Baradar's return to power embodies Afghanistan's inability to escape the bloody shackles of its past. The story of his adult life is the story of the country's unceasing, pitiless conflict, the report said.Born in Uruzgan province in 1968, he fought in the Afghan mujahideen against the Soviets in the 1980s. Baradar played a succession of military and administrative roles in the five-year Taliban regime, and by the time it was ousted by the US and its Afghan allies, he was deputy minister of defence.During the Taliban's 20-year exile, Baradar had the reputation of being a potent military leader and a subtle political operator. Western diplomats came to view him as on the wing of the Quetta Shura – the Taliban's regrouped leadership in exile – that was most resistant to ISI control, and most amenable to political contacts with Kabul.The Obama administration, however, was more fearful of his military expertise than it was hopeful about his supposedly moderate leanings.

Source: Economic Times August 16, 2021 10:52 UTC