- Hibatullah Akhundzada was appointed as the Taliban leader after a U.S. drone attack killed his predecessor, Mullah Akhtar Mansour in 2016.
- Abdul Ghani Baradar grew up in Kandahar and is the co-founder of the Taliban.
- Sirajuddin Haqqani concurrently serves as deputy leader of the Taliban and head of the powerful Haqqani network.
After Islamists took over the country on a swift offensive, some of the top Taliban leaders are in Kabul to negotiate the establishment of a new government in Afghanistan.
The internal operations and leadership of the Taliban have long been kept secret-even when they ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001.
The following is a summary of what is known:
-Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada-
After a U.S. drone attack killed his predecessor Mullah Akhtar Mansour in 2016, Shibatura Ahunzada was appointed as the leader of the Taliban, in a swift transition of power.
Before joining the movement’s ranks, Akhundzada was a low-key religious figure. It is generally believed that he was chosen more as a spiritual leader than as a military commander.
After being appointed as the leader, Ahunzada received the oath of loyalty from Al-Qaida leader Ayman Zawahiri, who praised the clergyman-calling him the “Emir of Believers.”
This helped him establish jihadist qualifications with long-time allies of the organization.
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Ahunzada’s mission is to unify a radical movement that briefly broke down in the fierce power struggle after Akhtar’s assassination, and the great challenge of the leadership to hide the death of Taliban founder Mullah Omar for many years.
His public image is largely limited to publishing information during Islamic holidays, but the organization revealed his whereabouts after taking over Afghanistan.
“He is in Kandahar,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said.
Another spokesperson said that Ahunzada would make a public appearance “soon”.
-Co-founder Mullah Baradar-
Abdul Ghani Baradar grew up in Kandahar, the birthplace of the Taliban movement.
Like most Afghans, when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in the late 1970s, Baradar’s life changed forever and he became a rebel.
It is believed that he had fought alongside the one-eyed priest Mullah Omar.
In the early 1990s, during the chaos and corruption of the civil war after the withdrawal of the Soviet Union, the two continued to create the Taliban movement.
After the Taliban regime was overthrown by the U.S.-led army in 2001, Baradar is believed to be one of a small group of insurgents. They approached the interim leader Hamid Karzai and reached an agreement that could allow the militants to recognize the new Potential government transactions.
Baradar was arrested in Pakistan in 2010 and remained in custody until pressure from the United States resulted in his release in 2018 and relocation to Qatar.
Read also | Hibatullah Ahunzada, Supreme Leader of the Taliban in Afghanistan
Here, he was appointed as the head of the Taliban political office and supervised the signing of the withdrawal agreement with the United States.
-Sirajuddin Haqqani, Haqqani Network-
As the son of the famous commander of the anti-Soviet jihadist organization, Sirajadin Haqqani serves as the deputy leader of the Taliban and the head of the powerful Haqqani network.
The Haqqani Network is a terrorist organization designated by the United States and has long been regarded as one of the most dangerous radical factions in Afghanistan.
It is notorious for using suicide bombings and is believed to have planned some of the most high-profile attacks in Kabul over the years.
The network is also accused of assassinating high-ranking Afghan officials and detaining kidnapped Western citizens for ransom—including the American soldier Bob Dal, who was released in 2014.
The Haqqani are known for their independence, combat acumen, and shrewd business dealings. They live mainly in eastern Afghanistan and have considerable influence on the Taliban’s leadership committee.
-Mullah Yaqoob, descendant-
As the son of Taliban co-founder Mullah Omar, Mullah Yakubu leads the organization’s powerful military committee, responsible for overseeing the large network of field commanders responsible for carrying out the insurgency.
Yaqoob’s father enjoyed a cult-like status as the leader of the Taliban, and this strong descent made him a unified figure in the movement.
However, speculation about Yaqoob’s exact role still exists-some analysts believe that his appointment in 2020 is only cosmetic.
