Bakht Mohammed

Mullah Bakht Mohammed (born 1972) is Mullah Dadullah's younger half-brother who succeeded him as senior military commander of the Taliban. Local people call him Mullah Mansoor Dadullah. He comes from the Arghandab district of Kandahar province, and belongs to the Kakar Pashtun tribe.

Early life
He appeared in a video which shows a "graduation Ceremony" for suicide bombers. In 2007, he was thought to be approximately 30 years old. During the 1990s Mullah Bakht Mohammed served as Dadullah' assistant during the Taliban's fight against the Afghan Northern Alliance.

In March 2007, Mullah Bakht Mohammed was serving a prison sentence in Kabul when he was released in exchange for Italian journalist Daniele Mastrogiacomo, along with several other Taliban. At the time he was not thought to be an important member of the Taliban movement.

After his brother was killed on May 12, 2007, a Taliban spokesman announced that Bakht Mohammed would be taking his place as military commander of the Taliban insurgency in Southern Afghanistan. His appointment is not thought to be the result of any partuclar ability, but was simply due to the fact he was Dadullah's brother. Taliban leader Mullah Omar, who had resented Dadullah's brutality, was said to have opposed Bakht Mohammed's appointment. He did, however, receive support from Al-Qaeda, who wished him to employ the tactics of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in Afghanistan.

In June 2007, Mullah Bakht Mohammed said: "Sheikh Osama Bin Laden is alive and active. He’s carrying out his duties. The latest proof that he is alive is that he sent me a letter of condolences after the martyrdom of my brother. He advised me to follow my brother’s path." On December 29, 2007 Mullah Bakht Mohammed was removed from his post as military commander by Mullah Omar due to insubordination. On February 11, 2008, Dadullah was seriously wounded and captured by Pakistani security forces in a crackdown on Taliban in Gawal Ismailzai area.

Peace talk meetings
In 2010, meetings were arranged to begin peace talks with the Afghani President, Hamid Karzai, and the Commander of US and ISAF forces in Afghanistan, David Petraeus. During the meeting, the man who they believed was Mullah Mansoor was in reality a shopkeeper from Quetta, who just swindled them for lots of money and made a fool out of everyone, including Petraeus. According to sources, the impostor met with Afghan and NATO officials three times, including once with Karzai before they discovered his real identity.

Release
Dadullah was released alongside six other selected prisoners on September 7, 2013. However, they were not released directly into the Taliban's custody.