Abdul Ghani Baradar (1968-) was a co-founder of the Taliban and the deputy of Mullah Mohammed Omar. Baradar was the man behind the peace talks between Hamid Karzai's government and the Taliban for years, and Afghanistan applauded his release from a Pakistani prison in 2013.
Biography[]
Abdul Ghani Baradar was born in 1968 in Weetmak, Oruzgan Province, Afghanistan to a Sunni Muslim family of Pashtuns. Baradar fought in the Mujahideen during the Soviet-Afghan War in the 1980s, and he became the brother-in-law of Mohammed Omar via marriage to two sisters, and he rose to become his deputy when Omar became the leader of the Taliban militia. Baradar served as governor of Herat Province and Nimruz Province under the Emirate of Afghanistan, and he also served as western corps commander and deputy Minister of Defense. In November 2001, Baradar and Omar escaped Afghanistan on a motorcycle during the United States invasion. From 2004 to 2009, he was behind many attempts at peace talks with the government, and on 8 February 2010 he was captured in Karachi, Pakistan by police. On 21 September 2013, he was released by the Pakistani government, and Afghanistan's government lauded his release, as it would lead to more negotiations.