Profile: Mullah Baradar, new deputy leader in Afghan gov’t

Abdul Ghani Baradar is appointed as deputy leader in new Afghan gov’t weeks after the armed group took over the country.

The Taliban co-founder Abdul Ghani Baradar has been named as the deputy leader in the new caretaker government of Afghanistan announced on Tuesday weeks after the armed group took over the country in a stunning military sweep. Baradar, who headed the Taliban’s political office in Doha, has been the Taliban’s most visible face in recent years as the group’s chief, Haibatullah Akhunzada, largely stays out of the public view. Popularly known as Mullah Baradar, he emerged as the Taliban’s number two after the death of Mullah Mohammad Omar in 2013. Omar, the Taliban’s enigmatic founding chief, was never seen in public.