Abdul Ghani Baradar, the leader of the Taliban forces that have seized control of Afghanistan, said that the quick collapse of that country’s previous government was an “unexpected victory” for the jihadist movement, which has now proclaimed an “Islamic Emirate” in Afghanistan. The Taliban leader has been involved in fighting since the 1980s—first against the USSR, then against the US. Captured in Pakistan in 2010, he was released in 2018 at the request of American officials.