Mullah Baradar, senior Taliban leaders reach Afghanistan's Kandahar

DOHA: The deputy leader of the Taliban Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar along with senior leaders arrived in Afghanistan via a special plane from Doha after the Kabul takeover by the Taliban fighters on Sunday, ARY News reported on Tuesday.

Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar along with the Taliban leaders landed in Afghanistan’s Kandahar through a special plane. The Taliban deputy leader returned to Afghanistan after almost 20 years.

Sources told ARY News that Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar is likely to be given an important responsibility in Afghanistan.

Earlier, Baradar and senior leaders departed for Afghanistan via a special plane from Doha as he will first visit Kandahar and later leave for Afghan capital Kabul, Afghan media reported.

Afghan media also reported that Baradar held a meeting with the Qatari foreign minister at the Taliban political office in Doha prior to his departure.

Political and security developments in Afghanistan were discussed by Baradar and the Qatari foreign minister in the meeting.

READ: TURKEY SAYS IT WELCOMES TALIBAN STATEMENTS SINCE THEY SEIZED CONTROL

The Taliban declared the war in Afghanistan was over after they took control of the presidential palace in Kabul as US-led forces departed and Western nations scrambled on Monday to evacuate their citizens.

President Ashraf Ghani fled the country on Sunday as the Taliban entered the city, saying he wanted to avoid bloodshed, while hundreds of Afghans desperate to leave flooded Kabul airport.

“Today is a great day for the Afghan people and the mujahideen. They have witnessed the fruits of their efforts and their sacrifices for 20 years,” Mohammad Naeem, the spokesman for the Taliban’s political office, told Al Jazeera TV.

“Thanks to God, the war is over in the country.”

It took the Taliban just over a week to seize control of the country after lightning sweep that ended in Kabul as Afghan forces, trained for years and equipped by the United States and others at a cost of billions of dollars, melted away.

Naeem said the form of the new regime in Afghanistan would be made clear soon, adding the Taliban did not want to live in isolation and calling for peaceful international relations.