
<p><strong>TOPLINE</strong> Taliban co-founder and political chief Abdul Ghani Baradar is set to lead the new government in Afghanistan, reports said on Friday, formalizing the Taliban’s grip on Kabul just days after the U.S. military and its allies withdrew all their soldiers and officials from the country.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



<p>Baradar will be aided by two other senior leaders: Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai and Mohammad Yaqoob, son of deceased Taliban co-founder Mullah Omar, Reuters&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/taliban-co-founder-baradar-lead-new-afghanistan-govt-sources-2021-09-03/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reported</a>, citing a Taliban official.</p>



<p>The Taliban’s supreme religious leader, Haibatullah Akhunzada, will not be part of the political leadership but will remain in charge of religious matters.</p>



<p>The leadership announcement comes at a time when new Afghan leadership faces crises on multiple fronts, including a devastated economy and growing rebellion in the country’s northern Panjshir Valley.</p>



<p>Peace talks between the Taliban and a militia group led by Ahmad Massoud—the son of former anti-Taliban Northern Alliance leader Ahmad Shah Massoud—have reportedly broken down, with both sides preparing for a possible conflict.</p>



<p>The Taliban government will also have to tackle an Afghan economy that is on the verge of collapse as all foreign aid has dried up and the country’s $9.4 billion in cash reserves have been frozen.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



<p>Baradar, who co-founded the Taliban in the 1990s, held several senior government positions when the militant group was previously in power between 1996 and 2001. After the Taliban government was dismantled by the 2001 U.S. invasion, Baradar helped lead the insurgent group’s fighters. He was eventually captured in Pakistan, near the city of Karachi, in 2010 in a mission that is believed to have been jointly planned by Pakistani and U.S. operatives. But he was released from prison in 2018 by Pakistani officials after the Trump administration&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-taliban-leader-emerges-hunted-jailed-and-now-free-11629154710" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reportedly</a>&nbsp;lobbied for his release as it began peace talks with the Taliban. Since his release, Baradar has helped lead the Taliban’s negotiations with the U.S.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-surprising-fact">SURPRISING FACT</h2>



<p>The Taliban’s former supreme leader and co-founder, Mohammed Omar,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ft.com/content/4b922166-1d8d-11df-a893-00144feab49a" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">coined</a>&nbsp;the nom de guerre “Baradar” for his colleague – which means “brother”. Baradar had worked closely with Omar in a group of Mujahideens who fought against the Soviet presence in the country in the 1980s.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-to-watch-for">WHAT TO WATCH FOR</h2>



<p>The Taliban has indicated it will try to seek international recognition of its government’s legitimacy as this would be crucial for opening the door to international aid. Access to foreign aid and the country’s foreign cash reserves will be critical for the Taliban as Afghanistan teeters on the brink of economic collapse. Both the United States and its European allies have&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/01/world/asia/taliban-un-afghanistan-us.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">urged</a>&nbsp;the Taliban to form an inclusive government that represents women and the country’s various religious and ethnic minorities.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/joewalsh/2021/08/17/who-runs-the-taliban-these-are-some-of-the-groups-top-leaders/">Who Runs The Taliban? These Are Some Of The Group’s Top Leaders.</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/taliban-co-founder-baradar-lead-new-afghanistan-govt-sources-2021-09-03/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Taliban co-founder Baradar to lead new Afghanistan govt &#8211; sources</a>&nbsp;(Reuters)</p>



<p><a href="https://thediplomat.com/2021/08/mullah-baradar-afghanistans-president-in-waiting/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Mullah Baradar: Afghanistan’s President-in-Waiting?</a> (The Diplomat)</p>



<p><strong><em>By Siladitya Ray, Forbes Staff</em></strong></p>


AFGHANISTAN-CONFLICT

What You Need To Know About Abdul Ghani Baradar— The Taliban Leader Poised To Lead Afghanistan’s New Government


<p><strong>TOPLINE</strong> A relative of a journalist working for German broadcaster Deutsche Welle has been killed as the Taliban is carrying out “door-to-door” manhunts in an effort to round up journalists and people who worked for the previous Afghan government or Western forces, a U.N. threat assessment has warned, escalating fears of reprisals despite the group vowing <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/8/17/transcript-of-talibans-first-press-conference-in-kabul" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">amnesty</a> for Afghans working for the previous government and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/aug/17/taliban-seek-no-revenge-and-all-afghans-will-be-forgiven" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">independence</a> for journalists.   </p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



<p>The Taliban “shot dead” and seriously injured two family members of a journalist working for DW in a door-to-door manhunt, the German broadcaster&nbsp;<a href="https://www.dw.com/en/relative-of-dw-journalist-killed-by-the-taliban/a-58912975" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">said</a>&nbsp;Thursday night.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>



<p>The Taliban has raided the homes of at least three journalists with the broadcaster and is likely involved in the kidnapping and shooting of other journalists in Afghanistan, DW said in a statement.</p>



<p>DW’s director general Peter Limbourg said “it is evident that the Taliban are already carrying out organized searches for journalists” in Kabul and other provinces and urged, alongside other media organizations,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.dw.com/en/dw-urges-german-government-to-help-afghan-staff/a-58890960" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">governments</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://rsf.org/en/news/rsf-seeks-un-security-council-meeting-plight-journalists-afghanistan" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">international</a>&nbsp;organizations to take swift action to ensure the safety of journalists in Afghanistan.&nbsp;</p>



<p>It comes as the Taliban is intensifying efforts to round up Afghan “collaborators” with suspected ties to the previous government and Western forces,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.dw.com/en/taliban-hunting-down-afghans-on-blacklist-report/a-58914571" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">according</a>&nbsp;to a confidential U.N. intelligence report written by the RHIPTO Norwegian Center for Global Analyses and seen by news outlets.</p>



<p>Christian Nellemann, who leads the group,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/8/20/taliban-un-report-afghanistan-door-to-door-revenge" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">told</a>&nbsp;AFP the Taliban is “targeting the families of those who refuse to give themselves up,” prosecuting and punishing them instead in apparent accordance with Sharia law.</p>



<p>“We expect both individuals previously working with NATO and U.S. forces and their allies, alongside with their family members to be exposed to torture and executions,” Nellemann said.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



<p>The Taliban swiftly retook Kabul and much of Afghanistan after the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/joewalsh/2021/04/13/biden-plans-to-pull-all-troops-from-afghanistan-by-911/?sh=68b8a9492f51">withdrawal</a>&nbsp;of U.S. forces, sparking an&nbsp;<a href="https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20210816-western-powers-scramble-to-evacuate-from-afghanistan" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">exodus</a>&nbsp;of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-rescue-staff-taliban-afghanistan/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">diplomatic</a>&nbsp;staff, foreign nationals and some&nbsp;<a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/8/16/taliban-says-afghanistan-war-over-as-president-diplomats-flee" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">local Afghan staff</a>. Thousands of Afghans have&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2021/08/16/us-forces-resort-to-aerial-firing-as-chaos-unfolds-at-kabul-airport/?sh=5a8fa52565d0">crowded</a>&nbsp;Kabul airport in the aftermath of the takeover in an attempt to flee and the State Department&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/joewalsh/2021/08/18/us-says-it-cannot-ensure-safe-passage-to-kabuls-airport-despite-taliban-pledge/?sh=4d7f64ea72b7">said</a>&nbsp;it could not guarantee Americans could reach the airport safely. NATO&nbsp;<a href="https://news.sky.com/story/afghanistan-taliban-urge-people-to-leave-kabul-airport-after-12-people-killed-there-since-sunday-12384959" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">officials</a>&nbsp;said at least 12 have died in and around the airport since Sunday. The Taliban—which brutally ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001 and harshly restricted rights for women and many other groups—said it would respect women’s rights “within the limits of Islam.” As with vows of amnesty, there are already reports of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/afghan-women-bankers-forced-roles-taliban-takes-control-2021-08-13/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">rollbacks to women’s rights</a>&nbsp;in some cities.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/joewalsh/2021/08/17/who-runs-the-taliban-these-are-some-of-the-groups-top-leaders/?sh=5974d2a81a14">Who Runs The Taliban? These Are Some Of The Group’s Top Leaders.</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/graisondangor/2021/08/18/taliban-is-letting-un-work-continue-so-far-officials-say/?sh=23bc7aab62a5">Taliban Is Letting U.N. Work Continue So Far, Officials Say</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.dw.com/en/taliban-hunting-down-afghans-on-blacklist-report/a-58914571" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Taliban hunting down Afghans on blacklist — report</a>&nbsp;(DW)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-58271797" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Afghanistan: Taliban carrying out door-to-door manhunt, report says</a> (BBC)</p>



<p><strong><em>By Robert Hart, Forbes Staff</em></strong></p>



<p>  </p>


Taliban Kill Journalist’s Relative In Intensifying ‘Door-To-Door’ Hunt For Media And ‘Collaborators’ With Previous Afghan Government Or U.S., NATO Forces

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What You Need To Know About Abdul Ghani Baradar— The Taliban Leader Poised To Lead Afghanistan’s New Government

Taliban Kill Journalist’s Relative In Intensifying ‘Door-To-Door’ Hunt For Media And ‘Collaborators’ With Previous Afghan Government Or U.S., NATO Forces