The Afghan Taliban claimed on Wednesday that Pakistan was keeping the group’s former deputy leader under detention despite announcing his release last month, an allegation promptly denied by Pakistani officials.
Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar’s release after years in detention had stirred hope among many Afghan and Pakistani officials that this would help the struggling peace process in neighbouring Afghanistan.
But the current friction raises questions about whether that will happen.
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said in a statement on the group’s website that Baradar “is still spending days and nights locked up behind bars in worrisome health conditions which are deteriorating by the day”. He called for Baradar’s immediate release.
Pakistani officials said Baradar was free but living under tight security for his own safety. The former Taliban commander was free to travel anywhere he chooses, but was always accompanied by Pakistani security officials, said a senior government official.
Pakistan has provided him a “secure place” to live that is not accessible to the general public, said a security official. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media about the issue.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai said on Monday that Baradar has been released, “but he is still not completely free”.
“We know that his family members have contact with him and we are trying to contact him, or find a telephone number, so we can use him for the peace process,” Karzai said during a press conference in Kabul.