Following
Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan on Sunday, the world is waiting for the
Taliban leadership to come to the fore as the militant group attempts to govern
a war-torn country thrown into chaos primarily by themselves. Mullah Abdul Ghani
Baradar has emerged as the leader of the Taliban-led government taking over
power from the Western-backed Afghan government.

Mullah
Abdul Ghani Baradar

Abdul Ghani
Baradar is one of the co-founders of the Taliban and now head’s the group’s
political office. Baradar was part of Taliban’s negotiating team in Doha to
come up with a political deal that could pave way for a ceasefire in Afghanistan.

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The negotiations, however, did not yield desired results. Abdul Khan Baradar
was once considered one of Taliban founder Mullah Omar’s most-trusted
commanders. He was captured in 2010 by security forces in Pakistan’s Karachi
and was released in 2018.

Mullah
Mohammed Yaqoob

Mullah
Mohammed Yaqoob, believed to be in his 30s, is the son of Taliban founder
Mullah Omar. Yaqoob currently oversees Taliban’s military operations and local
media sources claim that Yaqoob is currently in Afghanistan.

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For long, Yaqoob
was largely considered the leader of the Taliban movement amid various
succession tussles. However, in 2016, Yaqoob put forward Akhunzada as the
leader because he believed that he lacked military experience.

Sirajuddin
Haqqani

Sirajuddin
Haqqani is the leader of the Haqqani Network, a loosely organised group that
supervises Taliban’s finances. Son of prominent Mujahideen commander Jalaluddin
Haqqani, Sirajuddin also takes care of Taliban’s military assets.

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The Haqqani
family is believed to have introduced the concept of suicide bombing to
Afghanistan. They are also accused of several high-profile attacks in
Afghanistan including an assassination on Hamid Karzai when he was the president
of Afghanistan and an attack on the Indian Embassy.