By Frud Bezhan Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty September 7, 2021 The Taliban has formed a new, theocratic government in Afghanistan, weeks after the August 15 collapse of the internationally recognized administration in Kabul and within days of international troops’ departure. Taliban leader Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, a hard-line cleric and former chief justice, has been named supreme
Aamaj News: Zabihullah Mujahid has announced that Mullah Mohammad Hassan will lead the new government. Mullah Baradar was appointed as first deputy. Mawlavi Hannafi was appointed as second deputy. Mullah Yaqub was appointed by the Taliban to head the Ministry of National Defense. Sirajuddin Haqqani has been appointed by the Taliban as acting interior minister.
Tahir Khan Ayesha Tanzeem VOA News August 29, 2021 KABUL/ISLAMABAD – A senior Taliban leader confirmed to VOA on condition of anonymity that the group is in the final stages of announcing a new Cabinet that was expected to include all members of its current Rahbari Shura, or leadership council. Taliban supreme commander Hibatullah Akhundzada
Ron Synovitz Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty August 25, 2021 As the Taliban transforms its military chain of command into a governing structure for Afghanistan, alliances and tribal configurations that kept two rival Taliban factions together in recent years are now being tested. “Conquering a country is always the easy part. Ruling it, in Afghanistan’s case,
VOA News August 19, 2021 Taliban fighters captured major areas in quick succession on their way to seizing Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, Sunday, 20 years after U.S.-led forces knocked the group from power. Here are some of its key leaders. Mawlawi Haibatullah Akhundzada He is the Taliban’s supreme leader, a position he took following the death
Jamie Dettmer VOA News August 19, 2021 The Taliban has placed security for the Afghan capital, Kabul, in the hands of senior members of the Haqqani Network, which has close ties with foreign jihadist groups including a long-standing association with al-Qaida. Western intelligence officials say the assignment is alarming and undercuts Taliban promises to tread
By Ron Synovitz RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi August 6, 2021 With the Taliban in control of more than half of all districts in Afghanistan, promises made by Taliban political negotiators in Doha appear to be falling by the wayside. The movement’s so-called Political Affairs Commission in Doha had vowed in a February 2020 peace deal with the
Ayesha Tanzeem VOA News March 3, 2021 Offering a rare glimpse into the inner workings of the Afghan Taliban, the group publicly shared a speech in which its deputy leader seemed to be chiding a gathering of Taliban fighters for their internal rivalries, lack of motivation, and disciplinary issues. The date and place of the
By Frud Bezhan Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty November 7, 2020 Major Afghan cities have been largely spared from the deadly militant attacks that once struck them regularly. The Taliban agreed to stop bombing urban centers under a landmark peace deal signed with the United States in February. The militant group largely complied, shifting its focus to
Atlantic Council: The COVID-19 pandemic is transforming international relations not just by straining relations among powerful states, but also by disrupting violent nonstate actors. Perhaps no major militant outfit has felt the impact as much as the Taliban. The group’s leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, is either seriously ill with the virus or possibly dead. Sirajuddin Haqqani,