Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

Report: Afghanistan... Who Are Taliban's 4 Leaders Vying for Power


Mon 16 Aug 2021 | 10:21 AM

Media reports revealed that Taliban movement entered the Afghan capital, Kabul, early, while the movement is currently preparing to choose one of the four leaders to take over the reins of power.

The four leaders expected to rule Afghanistan are Taliban leader Mullah Hebatullah Akhundzadeh, Abdul Ghani Baradar, Sirajuddin Haqqani and Yaqoub Muhammad Omar.

Report: Afghanistan... Who Are Taliban's 4 Leaders Vying for Power

Akhundzada is one of the most prominent candidates, especially since he took over the leadership of the Taliban movement after the death of Akhtar Mohamed Mansour, who was killed in a US air raid in Pakistan.

Baradar, the second candidate to take over the leadership of Afghanistan, was the military commander of the Taliban movement, before he was arrested in 2010 in the Pakistani city of Karachi, and he was released in 2018 under pressure from the United States.

He is the diplomatic mind of the Taliban, and he is the one who led the negotiations with Washington, which led to the withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan, and then the peace talks with the Afghan government, which failed.

As for Haqqani, he is the number two in the Taliban movement. He is the leader of the Haqqani network to which the most violent attacks in Afghanistan in recent years have been attributed.

Report: Afghanistan... Who Are Taliban's 4 Leaders Vying for Power

The Haqqani network, which the United States classifies as a terrorist, is one of the most dangerous factions that have fought US and NATO forces in Afghanistan.

In turn, Omar, the head of the Taliban's Military Committee, enjoys great influence within the movement, due to his association with his father, Mullah Muhammad Omar.

In light of the rapid and sudden developments on the ground in Afghanistan, reports have proposed that the international community will start pursuing the events and revealing its positions, respectively.

The international community will deal very pragmatically with the situation and its positions will not be at the same distance, but will vary according to the interests and geopolitical goals of each party.

The acceleration of events was a surprise to everyone, or rather revealed the failure of US estimates.

The Afghan President, who apparently will hand over power to the Taliban, will not write the final chapter, as the transitional authority may include members of the Ashraf Ghani government under many pressures.

Ghani had held talks with US diplomat Zalmay Khalilzad and a number of senior NATO officials, in conjunction with the entry of a number of Taliban's associates into the capital. And it seems that there is no intention to recognize or deal with the movement and grant it legitimacy, according to the Afghan activists.

The Secretary-General of NATO said that the international community will not recognize any legitimate authority headed by the Taliban.

A delegation from the armed movement arrived at the presidential palace on Sunday, according to the Afghan Ministry of Interior, while there were reports that President Ghani had relinquished power and inaugurated a transitional government.

Afghan Interior Minister Abdul Sattar Mirza Kawal stressed that a "peaceful transition of power to a transitional government" would take place in Afghanistan, and continued in a video message that "Afghans should not worry (...) that there will be no attack on the city (Kabul). There will be a peaceful transfer of power to a transitional government."