Does Taliban leader Mullah Baradar hold a Pakistani passport? This image is viral

In 2020 when it was reported that Mullah Baradar has a Pakistani passport under the alias of Muhammad Arif Agha, the Taliban reportedly refuted it and said the photo does not match.

A purported photo of Taliban leader Mullah Baradar's Pakistani passport has resurfaced on social media at a time the Taliban were about to announce their new government under the possible leadership of Taliban co-founder Mullah Baradar. Hindustan Times did not authenticate the image going viral on social media. However, there are old reports claiming that Mullah Baradar indeed is the owner of the Pakistani passport.

In 2020, it was reported that Taliban deputy chief Mullah Baradar has Pakistani passport.  (Via REUTERS)

An old report of Afghanistan's Khama Press claimed that not only a passport, but Mullah Baradar also holds Pakistan's National identity card. A former official of Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security reportedly confirmed that Pakistan had issued these documents to Mullah Baradar under the fake name of Muhammad Arif Agha. The documents were reportedly issued to Mullah Baradar in Karachi city of Pakistan on 7th of July 2014, the report said.

At that time, Mullah Baradar was in Pakistan after he was arrested by the ISI in 2010.

The old report also said that the Taliban had rejected the claim and said that Mullah Baradar and Muhammad Arif Agha are not the same people and the photo on the passport, which has now gone viral on social media, does not match with Baradar.

Former Taliban supreme leader Mullah Akhtar Mansoor had a Pakistani passport which was recovered after he was killed in 2006.

Now that Mullah Baradar Ghani is tipped to be the head of the Taliban rule, this old image is going viral on social media amid claims that the Taliban are controlled by Pakistan. Pakistan ISI chief Faiz Hameed's visit to Kabul has only confirmed the speculation of Pakistan's support to the Taliban as analysts claimed that the visit proves that teh Taliban are only a puppet of the ISI.

Reports claimed the ISI chief had to visit Kabul to mediate between the Taliban and the Haqqani network. It is also believed that Mullah Baradar is not warm towards ISI as he was arrested by them in 2010.

However, Mullah Baradar has a long association with Pakistan and experts claim that he was Pakistan's pawn which Pakistan let go in 2018 after US intervention.