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Taliban Name Mullah Baradars Successor
[Quqnoos] The Taliban say the group's Supreme Leader has named two new deputies after the arrest of Mullah Baradar Abdul Qayuum Zakir and Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansoor succeed Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, who was arrested last month in Pakistan. The aim was to send "a message that one arrest will not affect our movement", a senior Taliban leader told Newsweek magazine. So the Taliban knows how to reach Newsweek. Figures ... Mullah Baradar was detained in Karachi in February in what was seen as a blow to the militants as they gear up to face a major NATO offensive this year. Abdul Qayuum Zakir, a former inmate at the US detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, is thought to be about 30. He is said to be very popular with the younger generation of Taliban fighters because of his willingness to fight on the ground beside his men - especially along the new front in Kandahar and Helmand provinces in southern Afghanistan. Reports say Abdul Qayuum Zakir was detained in Guantanamo Bay until 2007 and then deported to Afghanistan before being freed in 2008. According to reports, Mullah Mansoor was a part of the original Taliban leadership prior to the attacks of 11 September 2001. Posted by: Fred 2010-03-25 |
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