Who are the Taliban leaders?

The leadership of the Taliban, which met in Kabul on Saturday to discuss the formation of an “inclusive” government, has always been shrouded in mystery, just as it was when the movement ruled Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001.

Here is a brief presentation of the main leaders of this radical Islamist group, after their reconquest of power on August 15.

– Haibatullah Akhundzada, the supreme leader

Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada was appointed head of the Taliban in May 2016, a few days after the death of his predecessor, Mansour, who was killed by a US drone strike in Pakistan.

Before his appointment, Akhundzada was relatively unknown, more involved in judicial and religious matters than in military maneuvers.

Once in power, Akhundzada quickly gained the loyalty of Egyptian Ayman al-Zawahiri, the leader of Al-Qaeda, who called him “emir of the believers”, thus strengthening his credibility in the jihadist universe.

The son of a theologian, originally from Kandahar, the heart of Pashtun country in southern Afghanistan and the birthplace of the Taliban, this scholar already wielded considerable influence within the insurgency, where he headed the judicial system. His role at the head of the movement is believed to be more symbolic than operational, according to several analysts.

Akhundzada must first and foremost unify the Taliban, a complex mission given how fractured they have become in a violent struggle for power after the death of Mansour and the revelation that they had hidden for years the death of the movement’s founder, Mullah Omar.

He has managed to maintain group cohesion and remains rather discreet. He only releases rare annual messages during Islamic holidays.

– Mullah Baradar, the co-founder

Abdul Ghani Baradar, born in the province of Uruzgan (South) and who grew up in Kandahar, is the co-founder of the Taliban with Mullah Omar, who died in 2013 but whose death was hidden for two years.

Like many Afghans, his life was turned upside down by the Soviet invasion in 1979, which made him a mujahid. It is believed that he fought alongside Mullah Omar, who was blind in one eye.

Both are believed to have founded the Taliban during the Afghan civil war of the early 1990s, when warlords were plunging the country into chaos and bloodshed.

In 2001, after the American intervention and the fall of the Taliban regime, he was reportedly part of a small group of insurgents willing to accept an agreement recognizing the new administration in Kabul. But the United States rejected this initiative, opening a new chapter in twenty years of war.

Baradar was the Taliban’s military chief when he was arrested in 2010 in Karachi, Pakistan. He was released in 2018 under pressure from Washington.

He was listened to and respected by the various Taliban factions, and was subsequently appointed head of their political bureau, based in Qatar.

He led the Doha negotiations with the Americans, which resulted in the withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan, and then the peace talks with the Afghan government, which yielded nothing.

– Sirajuddin Haqqani, the head of the Haqqani network

The son of a famous anti-Soviet jihad commander, Jalaluddin Haqqani, Sirajuddin is both the number 2 of the Taliban and the head of the powerful eponymous network.

The Haqqani network, founded by his father, is classified as terrorist by Washington, which has always considered it one of the most dangerous factions fighting American and NATO troops in Afghanistan over the past two decades.

The network is known for its use of suicide bombers. It has been blamed for some of the most violent attacks perpetrated in Afghanistan in recent years.

He has also been accused of assassinating some senior Afghan officials and of holding Westerners hostage, before releasing them for ransom or prisoners, such as the American soldier Bowe Bergdahl, released in 2014 in exchange for five Afghan detainees from Guantanamo prison.

Known for their independence, fighting skills, and business acumen, the Haqqani are in charge of Taliban operations in the mountainous areas of eastern Afghanistan. They are believed to have a strong influence on the movement’s decisions.

– Mullah Yaqoub, the heir

Son of Mullah Omar, Yaqoub was the head of the powerful Taliban military commission, which decided on strategic directions in the war against the Afghan government.

His ancestry and his links with his father, who was the object of a veritable cult as the leader of the Taliban, make him a unifying figure within a broad and diverse movement.

Speculation about his exact role in the movement persists. Some analysts believe his appointment to head the commission in 2020 was purely symbolic. AFP

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