*** BREAKING - Senior Taliban Leader
       Flees Afghanistan  ***

Sher Mohammad Abbas #Stanikzai—senior leader of the #Taliban occupying regime and a key negotiator of the 29 Feb 2020 U.S.-Taliban agreement— has fled Afghanistan.

Stanikzai is a key figure in the Kabuli faction of the Taliban—which allegedly favors more moderate social policies that would allow limited education for Afghan women and girls. A warrant for Stanikzai’s arrest was issued last week by Hibatullah Akhunzada, leader of the Kandahari faction, which has promulgated increasingly draconian measures that Stanikzai opposed.

It is reported that Stanikzai had been attempting to flee Afghanistan for the past year and was ultimately aided in his escape from Afghanistan by the Haqqani network.

Advocacy for more moderate social policies, including girls’ education, has been used by the Kabuli faction as part of a strategy to gain concessions from the international community, including diplomatic recognition & economic aid.
#Stanikzai #Taliban