Lahore : After a long 20-year war in Afghanistan, the United States finally surrendered and began withdrawing.
As soon as the US withdrawal began, the Taliban, who had been fighting since being ousted from power in 2001, rushed to the presidential palace in Kabul, seizing various districts at lightning speed.
Currently, the Taliban have not made any announcements on governance and other political issues and have only told the international community that they want good relations and co-operation with all countries. The Taliban has also announced a general amnesty for all in the country.
The Taliban may announce a government structure in Afghanistan in the next few days. There is a strong possibility that the Taliban will prefer the Khilafah to a parliamentary or presidential system of government.
If so, who are the Taliban leaders who can hold important positions? Let’s take a look at some of the top Taliban leaders.
Hebatullah Akhunzada
Hebatullah Akhunzada is a scholar of Islamic law and the supreme leader of the Taliban, who has the final say on the group’s political, religious and military affairs.
Akhonzada took over after the death of former Supreme Leader Mullah Akhtar Mansoor in a US drone strike near the Pak-Afghan border in 2016.
His classmates and students told the British news agency Reuters that before Akhunzada’s sudden disappearance in May 2016, he allegedly led and preached in a mosque in the southwestern Pakistani town of Kuchlak for 15 years.
It is estimated that he is about 60 years old and his whereabouts are still unknown.
Mullah Muhammad Yaqub
Mullah Muhammad Yaqub is the son of Mullah Omar, the founder of the Taliban. Mohammad Yaqub oversees the group’s military operations, while according to local reports, Mullah Mohammad Yaqub is still in Afghanistan.
Read Also: Who Are the Afghan Taliban and What is Their History?
Mullah Mohammad Yaqub was nominated as the emir of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) during the ongoing power struggle, but in 2016 he himself promoted Hebatullah Akhonzada to lead the movement because he thought he had the battlefield. Lacks experience and is too young. He is thought to be over 30 years old.
Sirajuddin Haqqani
Sirajuddin Haqqani is the son of Mujahideen commander Jalaluddin Haqqani, who leads the Haqqani Network, an administratively weak group that monitors the Taliban’s financial and military assets on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
The Haqqani Network is believed by some to have carried out suicide bombings in Afghanistan and has been blamed for a number of high-profile attacks in Afghanistan, including a raid on a hotel in Kabul by then-President Hamid Karzai. These include the assassination attempt and the suicide attack on the Indian embassy.
Sirajuddin Haqqani is believed to be between 40 and 50 years old, and his whereabouts are unknown.
Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar
Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar is one of the co-founders of the Taliban. Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar is now the head of the Taliban’s political office and part of the group’s negotiating team in Doha to finalize a political agreement, a ceasefire and lasting peace in Afghanistan. Trying to pave the way.
The negotiation process has failed to make significant progress in recent months.
Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, one of Mullah Omar’s most trusted commanders, was arrested by security forces in Karachi, Pakistan, in 2010 and released in 2018.
Sher Muhammad Abbas Stanikzai
Before the fall of the Taliban, Sher Muhammad Stanikzai was a deputy minister in the government. Stanekzai lived in Doha for almost a decade and in 2015 became the head of the group’s political office in Doha.
He participated in talks with the Afghan government and represented the Taliban on diplomatic visits to several countries.
Abdul Hakim Haqqani
Abdul Hakim Haqqani heads the Taliban’s negotiating team and is a former Taliban shadow chief justice. Abdul Hakim Haqqani heads the Taliban’s powerful Council of Religious Scholars and is believed to have the most trust in Hebatullah Akhonzada.
It may be recalled that the Taliban also captured the Afghan capital Kabul yesterday, after which several key government officials, including US troops and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, fled the country.
The Taliban have announced a general amnesty after taking control of Kabul and sent a message to the international community to work with them.
In this regard, all the countries of the world are formulating their own policy on whether to accept the rule of the Taliban or not and in this regard the government of Pakistan is also considering.
