Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar Akhund, the Qatar-based deputy emir of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (the Taliban organization), who negotiated the U.S.-Taliban deal signed in February 2020, holds a Pakistan-issued National Identity Card (NIC) as well as a Pakistani passport.
The Taliban deputy emir's Pakistan National Identity Card, given under the fake name Muhammad Arif Agha.
According to an Afghan website, Mullah Baradar Akhund holds the passport and NIC under the fake name of Muhammad Arif Agha. The Afghan website cited an unidentified former Afghan intelligence official for its report.
Pakistan has adopted a policy of issuing passports and NICs to Taliban leaders under fake identities so they can travel abroad, the report said, adding that the documents were issued to Mullah Baradar Akhund in Karachi in 2014.
However, the Taliban rejected the report that the Taliban deputy holds a Pakistani passport and NIC. Afghanistan does not issue passports to the Taliban leaders, prompting the question of which country's passport the Taliban leaders use to travel internationally.
According to the report, the former Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansoor also held a Pakistani passport, which was recovered after a drone strike that killed him in 2016.
Source: Khaama.com (Afghanistan), June 25, 2020.
