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Agence France-Presse

Taliban supreme leader Haibatullah Akhundzada addressed supporters in the southern city of Kandahar, officials announced on Sunday, in his first public appearance since taking control of the group in 2016.
Akhundzada has been the spiritual chief of the Islamist movement since 2016 but has remained a reclusive figure, even after his group seized power in Afghanistan in August.
His low profile has fed speculation about his role in the new Taliban government – and even rumours of his death.
On Saturday, he visited the Darul Uloom Hakimah madrasa to “speak to his brave soldiers and disciples”, according to Taliban officials.
There was tight security at the event and no photographs or video have emerged, but a 10-minute audio recording was shared by Taliban social media accounts.
In it, Akhundzada – referred to as “Amirul Momineen”, or commander of the faithful – gives a religious message.
Three dead as ‘Taliban’ gunmen attack Afghan wedding over music
The speech did not touch on political organisation, but sought blessings for the Taliban leadership.
He prays for the Taliban martyrs, wounded fighters and the success of the Islamic Emirate’s officials in this “big test”.
Widely believed to have been selected to serve more as a spiritual figurehead than a military commander, Akhundzada’s statements will fuel speculation that he now plans to take a more central role in leading the new government.
Akhundzada rose from low profile religious figure to leader of the Taliban in a swift transition of power after a 2016 US drone strike killed his predecessor, Mullah Akhtar Mansour.

After being appointed leader, Akhundzada secured the backing of al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri, who showered the cleric with praise – calling him “the emir of the faithful”.
This endorsement by Osama bin Laden’s heir helped seal his jihadist credentials with the Taliban’s long-time allies.
Akhundzada was tasked with unifying a Taliban movement that briefly fractured during the bitter power struggle after Akhtar’s assassination, and the revelation that the leadership had hidden the death of their founder Mullah Omar for years.
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His public profile has largely been limited to the release of messages during Islamic holidays, and Akhundzada is believed to spend most of his time in Kandahar, the main city in the Taliban’s southern Afghan heartland.
His last message was on September 7, when he told the newly appointed Taliban government in Kabul to uphold sharia law as they govern Afghanistan.
Last week, Mullah Yussef Wafa, the Taliban governor of Kandahar and a close ally of Akhundzada, said he was in regular contact with his mysterious chief.


“We have regular meetings with him about the control of the situation in Afghanistan and how to make a good government,” he said.
“As he is our teacher, and everyone’s teacher, we are trying to learn something from him,” he added.
“He gives advice to every leader of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and we are following his rules, advice, and if we have a progressive government in the future it’s because of his advice.”


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Afghanistan

Taliban’s reclusive supreme leader Haibatullah Akhundzada makes first public appearance

Haibatullah Akhundzada has made his first-ever public appearance, Taliban officials announced on October 31, addressing a meeting of supporters in the southern city Kandahar. Photo: AFP

Taliban fighters walk at the courtyard of the Hazrat-e-Ali shrine or Blue Mosque, in Mazar-i-Sharif on October 30, 2021. (Photo by WAKIL KOHSAR / AFP)

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Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi with Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar in Doha, Qatar, on Monday. Photo: EPA-EFE

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Girls attend lessons at their orphanage in Kabul, Afghanistan on October 10. Photo: Reuters

Two girls search for books in a book stall outside the Kabul university while two Taliban soldiers pose after asking to be photographed, in Kabul, Afghanistan October 5, 2021. REUTERS/Jorge Silva TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

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The Taliban is seeking international recognition after it returned to power in August. Photo: Reuters

(211007) -- KANDAHAR, Oct. 7, 2021 (Xinhua) -- People carry relief assistance donated by World Food Programme (WFP) in Kandahar city, Afghanistan, Oct. 7, 2021. United Nations agencies and their humanitarian partners are racing against time to deliver life-saving aid and supplies to crisis-hit Afghans ahead of winter, the WFP agency said on Thursday. TO GO WITH "UN, humanitarian partners scale up life-saving response in Afghanistan" (Photo by Sanaullah Seiam/Xinhua)

Taliban delegates are seated in a plane in an unidentified location, in this handout photo uploaded to social media on October 9, 2021. Picture uploaded on on October 9, 2021. Social media handout/via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES.

UN chief Antonio Guterres slams ‘broken’ Taliban promises made to women and girls

A woman enters a Kabul beauty salon where the ads of women have been defaced by a shopkeeper. Photo: Reuters

FILE PHOTO: United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks at a high-level meeting to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the adoption of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action as part of the UN General Assembly 76th session General Debate in UN General Assembly Hall at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City, U.S. September 22, 2021 . Justin Lane/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

Afghanistan: Who is the Taliban’s reclusive supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada?

Hibatullah Akhundzada. File photo: Afghan Islamic Press via AP

Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban spokesman for nearly two decades who worked in the shadows, makes his first-ever public appearance to address concerns about the Taliban's reputation with women's education, appearance and rights, television music and executions, during a news conference in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Tuesday, Aug. 17, 2021. (Marcus Yam/Los Angeles Times/TNS)

Taliban fighters patrol a street in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Aug. 29, 2021, as suicide bomb threats hung over the final phase of the U.S. military's airlift operation from Kabul. (Aamir Qureshi/AFP via Getty Images/TNS)

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The spiritual chief has not been seen in public since taking control of the Taliban in 2016, even after it seized power in Afghanistan in August
He visited a madrasa to address supporters under tight security, the Taliban said



Spiritual chief Haibatullah Akhundzada has not been seen in public since taking control of the Taliban in 2016.


Afghanistan after the US withdrawal

Afghanistan: All stories

Taliban

Taliban’s reclusive supreme leader Haibatullah Akhundzada makes first public appearance

The spiritual chief has not been seen in public since taking control of the Taliban in 2016, even after it seized power in Afghanistan in August He visited a madrasa to address supporters under tight security, the Taliban said

The spiritual chief has not been seen in public since taking control of the Taliban in 2016, even after it seized power in Afghanistan in August

He visited a madrasa to address supporters under tight security, the Taliban said