Amu: According to a new decree attributed to the Taliban leader, the Ministries of Defence, Interior and the General Directorate of Intelligence have been stripped of the authority to distribute weapons, ammunition and military equipment. According to the decree, only the Taliban leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, can decide on the distribution of military equipment. Some see
8am: Recently, The New York Times referred to Sirajuddin Haqqani, the acting Interior Minister of the Taliban and the leader of the Haqqani Network, as the only “dissenting voice from within” the group. This is not the first time some media outlets and reputable international organizations have made such claims. Click here to read more
Al Jazeera: While Akhundzada appears in control, signs of growing internal divisions have surfaced. In February 2023, Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani implicitly criticised him, saying, “Monopolising power and hurting the reputation of the entire system are not to our benefit. … The situation cannot be tolerated.” Click here to read more (external link).
8am: Mullah Hibatullah appears to be traveling to the north to solidify his presence in these regions and simultaneously manage internal group conflicts. Internal conflicts within the Taliban are escalating due to ethnic biases. Some commanders who are not ethnically aligned with Mullah Hibatullah have been suppressed, while others seem to be sidelined. This situation
Afghanistan International: The Taliban has disarmed and imprisoned one of their Tajik commanders in the Chah Ab district of Takhar province. Local sources told Afghanistan International that Haji Ghulam Hussain had been arrested six days ago, and 350 of his forces had been disarmed. Bashir was a former commander of the Hizb-e-Islami who later joined
Afghanistan International: Reliable sources have told Afghanistan International that relations between Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, the leader of the Taliban, and Amir Khan Muttaqi, the group’s foreign minister, have soured. Recently, the Taliban selected Zabihullah Mujahid, the main spokesperson for their government, to attend the third Doha meeting instead of Muttaqi. According to these sources, Mujahid’s
8am: Given the strong ethnic inclinations within the Taliban, their religious ideology has also taken on an ethnocentric hue. They are striving for the widespread promotion of the Pashto language and consider the Persian language, which historically served as a lingua franca facilitating understanding and communication among all the country’s inhabitants, as a foreign and
Afghanistan International: Following Abdulhamid Khorasani’s protest against “Taliban ethnocentrism,” several non-Pashtun Taliban members warned that if the insults against him continue, they will split up from the Taliban. This Tajik-origin commander, through a video, supported the protests in Badakhshan and opposed the suppression of protesters. Click here to read more (external link).
Ayaz Gul VOA News May 5, 2024 ISLAMABAD — Afghanistan’s hardline Taliban leaders have threatened to militarily suppress unprecedented violent public protests in a northeastern border region against a nationwide ban on poppy cultivation. The unrest erupted last Friday when the Taliban’s anti-narcotics forces began destroying poppy fields in Badakhshan province, prompting angry farmers to resist
Afghanistan International: The Afghanistan Green Trend (AGT), led by Amrullah Saleh, has reported that hostility between the Kandahari Taliban and the forces of Fasihuddin Fitrat, the group’s Chief of Army Staff, in Badakhshan, is growing. The AGT also suggested that the Kandahari Taliban, who now control Badakhshan, have started disarming the local Taliban and imposing