Similarly, Taliban officials have repeatedly said that the supreme leader and commander-in-chief of the movement, Haibatullah Akhundzada, will soon make a public appearance. He hasn’t, fueling rumors he says he’s sick or even dead.
In other countries, a politician subjected to such speculation would convene a press conference or make an appearance on television to correct the record. In Baradar’s case, a low-quality 39-second audio recording was released on Monday, along with a handwritten note from his assistant. No videos or images were posted. The last time Baradar was seen was in a fleeting appearance at a hotel in Kabul in the first week of September.
In the audio clip, Baradar allegedly says, “There are some talks in the media. I had been traveling these days. I had gone somewhere and praised God that we are all fine. Some of these media networks do this kind of propaganda and tell such shameful lies. Reject this talk with courage. No problems, no problems, praise God. I assure you 100%. ”
Rumors of internal loopholes were fueled by Baradar’s absence from the delegation that met on Sunday in Kabul with Qatar’s foreign minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani. Taliban officials explained that he was not in Kabul, but had gone to Kandahar, where he is said to have supreme leader Haibatullah Akhundzada.
The invisibility of the Taliban leadership is not a new phenomenon. This is not a group that feels the need to communicate with the outside world. In many ways, the Taliban’s public relations effort has become much more sophisticated in the past two years, with social media accounts in several languages and spokespersons like Zabihullah Mujahid holding press conferences. The Taliban produced a prodigious volume of video as their fighters stormed across the country in August.
But this more assertive communication strategy does not extend to leaders who have spent much of their lives fighting the guerrillas and in some cases years in prison. The Taliban remain a secret organization.
Azaz Syed, a Pakistani journalist who has denounced the Taliban for years, told CNN: “Most key Taliban leaders, especially the Haqqani family, avoid public exposure or appearance, as they are convinced that the their identity will help the enemy “” to guide them “. It seems that old habits die hard.
There is no better example of the Taliban’s attitude toward publicity and transparency than the circumstances of the death from tuberculosis of its co-founder and first leader, Mullah Omar. He died in 2013, but the group did not reveal it until two years later. This in itself was an indication of the deep divisions within the group, especially because of the peace negotiations, which many of the Taliban military commanders resisted. The divisions were so sharp that some commanders left the group to join the emerging IS branch in Afghanistan.
The current supreme leader, Haibatullah Akhundzada, was elected in 2016 at a split board meeting, or shura, in the Pakistani city of Quetta, the headquarters of the Taliban in exile. He has not made any public appearances in the next five years. For much of 2020, not a single statement appeared in his name. A senior Taliban official, Moulawi Muhammad Ali Jan Ahmed, told Foreign Policy last year that Akhundzada had been affected by the coronavirus, which affected many senior Taliban officials.
In the month since the Taliban took power in Kabul, only a statement has been issued on behalf of Akhundzada, saying: “I assure all citizens that the figures [ministers in the Taliban government] he will work hard to maintain Islamic norms and sharia law in the country. ”
If there are serious divisions within the Taliban leadership today, it is possible that they have their roots in this shura of 2016. A compromise was reached to keep the group together, with two deputies appointed: Mullah Yaqoob, son of the first Taliban leader Mullah Omar; and Sirajuddin Haqqani, leader of the Haqqani network.
Both are part of the new government, as Ministers of Defense and Interior, respectively. Little has been seen of either man despite his importance in maintaining key security portfolios.
However, Uncle Khalil of Sirajuddin, appointed refugee minister, has been more visible, addressing tribal meetings and even granting interviews to foreign journalists. GeoNews’ Azaz Syed met him in Kabul last month.
“Among the haqqani, Khalil Haqqani is more visible in social gatherings,” Syed said. “However, he is also very careful with his safety: whenever he moves in the city, a car transport and security guards from the 313 Special Brigade give him security.” The protection may not be surprising, as he has a $ 5 million reward courtesy of the U.S. government, while his nephew Sirajuddin has a $ 10 million reward.
In this feverish atmosphere, anything that arises about a dispute or confrontation between rival elements will be left in carefully formulated whispers off the record. The Taliban’s internal machinations and decision-making give a new definition to the word opaque.