Apart from a single photograph, Hibatullah Akhundzada has never made a public appearance
Acceptance:
In the days since he took power in Afghanistan, a wide range of Taliban have entered hardened commands in Kabul, armed madrassa students and leaders in grays since years of exile.
There was one important exception: the supreme leader of the group.
Hibatullah Akhundzada, the so-called commander of the faithful, has been a Taliban pastor as leader since 2016, when he was snatched from relative darkness to oversee a movement in crisis.
After taking the reins of the insurrection, the clergyman was given the task of the great challenge of unifying a jihadist movement that was briefly fractured during a hard power struggle.
The fights took place when the group received successive blows: the assassination of Akhundzada’s predecessor and the revelation that its leaders had hidden the death of the Taliban’s founder, Mullah Omar.
Little is still known about the day-to-day role of Akhundzada, with a public profile largely limited to the publication of annual messages during Islamic holidays.
Aside from a single photograph published by the Taliban, the leader has never made a public appearance and his whereabouts remain unknown.
Since taking control of Kabul in mid-August, the group has stood firm with Akhundzada’s movements.
“You will see him soon, God willing,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told reporters this week when asked about Akhundzada’s whereabouts.
The ongoing silence comes as leaders of various Taliban factions have openly preached in Kabul mosques, met with opposition figures and even chatted with Afghan cricket officials in recent days.
The secret story
The Taliban has a long history keeping its top leader in the shadows.
The enigmatic founder of the group, Mullah Mohammad Omar, was famous for his hermit manners and rarely traveled to Kabul when the group was in power in the 1990s.
Instead, Omar was left out of sight at his Kandahar venue, reluctant even to meet with visiting delegations.
However, his word was the rule and no singular figure has appeared who commanded the movement with the same respect.
Laurel Miller, the head of the International Crisis Group’s Asian program, said Akhundzada “seems to have adopted an exclusive style similar” to Omar’s.
The secret could also be fueled by security reasons, Miller added, citing the assassination of his predecessor Mullah Akhtar Mansour by a U.S. drone strike.
“A Taliban spokesman has indicated that his leader will emerge soon, and that he may have reasons to do so to dispel suspicions of his disappearance,” Miller told AFP.
“But it is also possible that, after showing himself, he would withdraw and exercise his authority in a remote manner, as Mullah Omar did.”
Akhundzada’s absence follows years of rumors about his health, with talks in Pakistan and Afghanistan suggesting he had hired Covid or been killed in a bombing.
There have never been many things to prove these rumors, but Akhundzada’s secret comes at a sensitive time for the ancient insurrection.
There are countless Taliban factions forming groups across Afghanistan, representing a wide range of components.
The 2015 revelation that the Taliban leadership had hidden the death of Mullah Omar for years sparked a brief but bloody power struggle, with at least one large faction separate from the group.
As the Taliban transition from struggle to governance, the balance between the interests of their numerous factions will be crucial to consolidating power.
Any power vacuum would risk destabilizing a movement that has managed to stay cohesive after decades of conflict, tens of thousands of foot soldiers killed and leaders killed or sent to U.S. prisons in Guantanamo Bay.
Others suggest the group could be offering its time until U.S.-led forces make their final exit from Afghanistan in the coming days.
“The Taliban consider themselves in a state of jihad” as long as foreign troops are on Afghan soil and will likely keep their leader hidden until they leave, Pakistan-based security analyst Imtiaz Gul said.
“That’s why the supreme leader doesn’t come to the surface.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)