Taliban Co-Founder Emerges as the Group’s New Public Face in Moscow Peace Talks by Amie Ferris-Rotman – Washington Post
When members of the Taliban and Afghan politicians met Tuesday in the Russian capital for talks aimed at ending the war in their country, one face in particular stood out: Abdul Ghani Baradar, a co-founder of the Taliban and the head of its political office, who spoke publicly for the first time about the need for a peace deal.
Baradar’s comments showed that the insurgency’s leadership was willing to advance peace talks and signaled that efforts to end the protracted U.S.-led war in Afghanistan could be gaining momentum despite continued deadly attacks by the Taliban across the country.
“The Islamic Emirate is firmly committed to peace, but the first step is to remove obstacles and end the occupation of Afghanistan,” Baradar said, referring to the Taliban by the group’s preferred name…