Who is Taliban leader 'Sheru', once trained at Dehradun's military academy?

Born in Logar Province, Mohammad Abbas studied political science in Afghanistan and completed his masters before joining the military.

As the Taliban took over Afghanistan in an uncontested march, the name of Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, a top leader of the insurgent group, is doing the rounds as some retired Army personnel remember him when he was being trained at the Indian Military Academy in Dehradun. Reports said before joining the Taliban, he was in the Afghan army and was trained as a foreign cadet at the Indian Military Academy.

Popularly called 'Sheru' by his then batchmates, Mohammad Abbas was among the 45 cadets who received training in the Keran Company of the Bhagat Battalion of the academy. (Photo: AFP)

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As per sources, quoted by news agency ANI, Mohammad Abbas had joined the Afghan National Army as a Lieutenant after passing out in 1982, after completing his training at the IMA. He was selected for training at IMA after passing the examination of the Afghan Defense Academy.

Popularly called 'Sheru' by his then batchmates, Mohammad Abbas was among the 45 cadets who received training in the Keran Company of the Bhagat Battalion of the academy. Many cadets from African and Asian countries have received "pre-commission training" at the Indian Military Academy since 1948.

Taliban wanted India to retain its diplomatic presence in Afghanistan

Born in Logar Province, Mohammad Abbas studied political science in Afghanistan and completed his masters before joining the military. He fought in the Soviet-Afghan war and when the Taliban came to power in 1996, he became the deputy minister of foreign affairs under foreign minister Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil. Being one of the top Taliban leaders, he was also at the helm of affairs in the last two decades when the Taliban was operating from its political office in Qatar.

A Bloomberg report said unlike many of the Taliban leaders, Stanikzai speaks fluent English. In 1996, he had visited Washington to convince the Clinton administration to recognise the Taliban government. The mission failed but he remained a go-to man when it came to lead Taliban delegations in other countries. He led many Taliban delegations to foreign countries between 2012 and 2018. He is also Abdul Hakim Haqqani's deputy negotiator on talks with Afghan government officials.

Reports have quoted Mohammad Abbas's batchmates saying that when he was in Dehradun, he was not at all a hardliner and was quite a likeable person.

(With ANI inputs)