Taliban moves into Kabul as Afghanistan president Ashraf Ghani flees the country

A cofounder of the Taliban, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, is expected to play a major role in the new government

by Charlie Smith on August 15th, 2021 at 9:49 AM

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Nearly two decades after the Taliban was ousted from power in Afghanistan, they appear to be back in control.

After seizing many provincial capitals, the ultraconservative Islamic insurgents entered Kabul today, forcing President Ashraf Ghani to flee the country.

One of the key Taliban commanders, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, is expected to play a major role in the new government, possibly as president.

He cofounded the Taliban in 1994 and was a deputy of the last Taliban president, Mullah Mohammed Omar.

In 2010, Baradar was captured in Pakistan and held for eight years before he was released at the request of the United States.

Malala Yousafzai, the Nobel laureate who was shot by the Taliban in Pakistan in 2012 for promoting girls' education, tweeted that she's "deeply worried about women, minorities and human rights advocates".