New Delhi: Speculation intensified about the fate of the Deputy Leader of the Afghan Government, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, after the Taliban leaders met with a senior delegation from Qatar in Kabul on Sunday, Baradar strikingly absent from the meeting, the Daily Mail reported.
On Monday, the Taliban was forced to deny that Mullah Baradar had died after rumors appeared that he was killed during the shootout with his political rival.
The Taliban insisted that Baradar in Kandahar province, met with the highest leader of the Mawlawi group Hibatullah Akhundzada to discuss the future of the state now that US forces have been withdrawn.
But the social media rumors believe he was truly killed in a battle of weapons at the Presidential Palace Kabul on Friday which broke out during the meeting with a strong and cruel Haqqani family, the report said.
Three members of the Haqqani family were at the top with the Qatar delegation along with other members of the Afghan government led by Prime Minister Mohammad Hasan Akhund, the report said.
Baradar is one of the founding members of the Taliban and has served as a representative to the first highest leader Mullah Omar, who died in 2013 from tuberculosis.
After Omar’s death Baradar took over as the leader of the Taliban political wing and was one of the senior senior figures of the group.
But he was considered contrary to the Haqqani family, the scary leaders of Haqqani networks affiliated with the Taliban but also had a relationship with terror groups who opposed ISIS-k.
Two members of the clan – Sirajuddin and Khalil – now holding senior positions in the new government, each taking the role of interior ministers and the minister of refugees.
Anna Haqqani also has a role as a high-level negotiator, and is present during a meeting with Qatar’s diplomat.
Rumors about Baradar’s safety began circulating last week when the Taliban announced his new government and named him as Deputy Prime Minister, despite the extent confidence that he would take the top work.
It caused speculation that he had been reduced because of the battle between the founders of the Taliban and the Haqqani network – the strong faction of the Taliban whose family members secured the top position in the new government, the report said.