Haqqani and Baradar fight it out for power in Kabul

Backed by Pakistan, the Haqqani Network have no interest in sharing power in Kabul and are looking at pure ultra-conservative Sunni Pashtun government. This view flies against the commitment given by Mullah Baradar for a transitional inclusive government to the international community in Doha.

Published on: Sep 5, 2021, 09:21:06 IST

By Shishir Gupta, New Delhi

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There is confusion over government formation in Kabul with Haqqani Network leadership at odds with Mullah Baradar over the formation of an inclusive transitional government as committed to the international community during the Doha peace talks.

The Haqqanis are in favour of a pure Taliban government based on medieval theocracy.  (File Photo)

While Baradar wants elements from the minority communities to be included in the government, the Haqqani’s lead by Taliban deputy leader Sirajuddin and his terrorist brood do not want to share power with anyone. With the tacit backing of mentor and promoter Pakistan, the Haqqanis are in favour of a pure Taliban government based on medieval theocracy. “The HQN has told Baradar to back off as they won Kabul and have dominant control of the Afghan capital. Mullah Yaqoob is still in Kandahar and there is utter confusion over government formation with ultra-conservative traditional Taliban elements who do not want to give up filial ties with Al Qaeda coming to the fore,” said a Kabul watcher.

Also read | The inside story of the ISI-Taliban nexus

The chief promoter of Taliban, Lt Gen Faiz Hameed, Director General of Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), is still in Kabul trying to broker a settlement between the warring factions in favour of the Haqqani Network. The ISI has used Haqqani Network to target Indian Embassy in Kabul in the past and for steering the Sunni Pashtun force in a direction aligned to Pakistan. Another reason for Gen Hameed to be in Kabul is to monitor the Taliban operations against the Resistance Force led by Commander Amrullah Saleh in Panjshir Valley. Unconfirmed reports indicate the induction of Pakistani Army regulars in mufti for the anti-resistance operations in the Panjshir Valley. With China and Russia with the Taliban, the Panjshir resistance is fighting an uphill battle without international support as all the bordering Central Asian Republics are suing for peace with the Sunni Islamist as directed by Moscow. While the European Union is most unhappy with the turn of events and in Pakistan, the 27 member union has no stomach for a fight, while the UK is riding on Islamabad for engaging the Taliban. And the US has no play in the stabilisation of Afghanistan except that it wants the Doha process to be honoured as brokered by their much-discredited envoy Zalmay Khalilzad.

Also read | Why is ISI chief in Kabul? Afghan politician says 'to stop Mullah Baradar'

Clearly, the tussle for power in Kabul will yield towards the gun as the HQN leadership has told the Doha interlocutors that they won Kabul through force and are not really interested in any legitimacy from the international community with China on its side. An HQN controlled Taliban government in Kabul also suits the Pakistan Army as it will not only give Rawalpindi strategic depth against India but also strong leverage with the tired international community. The clock has again gone back to medieval times in the Af-Pak region.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Shishir Gupta
Shishir Gupta is Executive Editor at Hindustan Times and one of India's top journalists covering national security, strategic affairs, foreign policy and geopolitics. Over the past three decades, he has extensively reported on India's military, diplomatic and security landscape, covering every major conflict and national security challenge, from the 1999 Kargil War and the 2020 East Ladakh standoff to Operation Sindoor in 2025. He has also covered major terror attacks, including the IC-814 hijacking, the 26/11 Mumbai attacks and the 2025 Pahalgam terror strike, along with numerous Pakistan-backed terrorist incidents in the Kashmir Valley and across India. He has reported on national and state elections for more than three decades. A recognised authority on strategic affairs, Gupta has covered India's nuclear programme since the Pokhran-II (Shakti series) tests in May 1998 and has written extensively on global nuclear issues, Indian diplomacy and the country's expanding global outreach. He has also reported widely on international conflicts and terrorism, with a special focus on the Indian subcontinent. Gupta has interviewed Prime Minister Narendra Modi more than four times, including Modi's first interview with the print media after becoming Prime Minister in May 2014. His other interviews include three with the Dalai Lama, as well as conversations with Benjamin Netanyahu, Amit Shah, Yogi Adityanath, S. Jaishankar, Nirmala Sitharaman and Piyush Goyal. He is the author of Indian Mujahideen: The Enemy Within (Hachette, 2011) and Himalayan Face-off: Chinese Assertion and Indian Riposte (Hachette, 2014). He was awarded the Chevening-Wolfson Joint Scholarship at Wolfson College, University of Cambridge, UK, in 1998 and participated in the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) of the US State Department in 2006. He received the Ben Gurion Prize from Israel in 2011 and the K. Subrahmanyam Prize for Strategic Studies in 2015 from the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA). Since 2024, he has hosted Point Blank, Hindustan Times' weekly YouTube show on global geopolitics.Read More

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