Senior Taliban leaders rarely publicly disagree with official policies issued by the group’s supreme leader, but there are signs of increasing internal dissent as the Taliban struggles to gain international recognition after one and a half years in power.
The Taliban's acting defense minister, Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob, in an event marking the 34th anniversary of the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, said Wednesday that the Taliban “should always listen to the legitimate demands of the people.”
Yaqoob’s remarks echoed those of other Taliban leaders who, in recent days, have issued rare public criticisms.
A key Taliban figure, Sirajuddin Haqqani, the acting interior minister, criticized the group’s leaders Sunday for “monopolizing power,” though he did not name anyone. But his remarks were seen as a criticism of the movement’s reclusive supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada. He added that “this situation can no more be tolerated.”
In recent months, Akhundzada issued numerous decrees banning women and girls from universities and working with NGOs, which brought about internal and international condemnation.
Shinkai Karokhail, a former member of the Wolesi Jirga, the lower house of Afghanistan’s parliament, told VOA that some of the Taliban leaders are ‘frustrated’ because the supreme leader “wants all decisions to be his own and expects everyone to obey his decisions.”
She added that, therefore, Taliban leaders have made their dissent public.
The Taliban’s recent harsh policies “do not do them good,” said Karokhail, adding that “people in Afghanistan aren’t happy. The international community is frustrated, and their government is yet not recognized.”
The Taliban seized power in August 2021, but no country has yet recognized them as the legitimate government of Afghanistan.
The international community demands that the Taliban grant women the right to education and work before opening any negotiations.
After seizing power, the Taliban have imposed steadily repressive measures on women, including banning them from education, work, traveling long-distance without a close male relative, and going to parks and gyms.
Taliban infighting
Karokhail added that some Taliban leaders want their government to be recognized, receive international aid, be open for foreign investment, and make people happy “so they can stay in power.”
Former U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan, Earl Anthony Wayne told VOA that there are factions in the group who see the importance of engagement with the international community. However, he said those Taliban are “not in a position to control the decision-making right now with the Taliban government.”
But that could be changing.
The rare criticism by the Taliban’s powerful leader Haqqani suggests a power struggle among the Taliban, said Peter Bergen, vice president for global studies and a fellow at New America, a nonpartisan Washington think tank.
Bergen told VOA that “the comments by Sirajuddin Haqqani seem to imply that he is settling himself up as the overall leader of the Taliban.”
He added that by controlling the ministry of interior and the intelligence service, Haqqani is in a “strong position” to challenge the Taliban’s leadership.
“The Haqqanis have always been somewhat distinct from the core Taliban because their power base is in eastern and central Afghanistan, not in southern Afghanistan,” said Bergen.
International condemnation
Kate Bateman, a senior expert on Afghanistan for the U.S. Institute of Peace, told VOA that the Taliban bans on women’s university education and working in NGOs brought about “a unified international condemnation.”
She added that the Taliban leadership was “not expecting this kind of reaction.”
Bateman said that the international community still expects a rollback on the bans, which “could open the door to more dialogue.”
But “as long as that is the situation in Afghanistan," he said, "the whole world will find it difficult to have a relationship with the Taliban government.”
This story originated in VOA’s Afghan Service.
