‘Commander of the Faithful’: Akhundzada as Taliban’s Supreme Leader
Emir-al-Mumineen (Commander of the Faithful) Haibatullah Akhundzada is presently the supreme leader of the Taliban.
He was promoted to the highest rank of the Taliban – the emir – in May 2016, after a US drone killed his predecessor, Mullah Akhtar Mansour, in a strike conducted in Pakistan.
Akhundzada had left the religious institute in Balochistan upon his appointment, and was believed to be in hiding, Reuters had reported in 2016.
He has since evaded the public eye, fuelling speculations of his death.
As recently as February 2021, several Afghan media outlets, including Hasht-e-Subh newspaper, had reported that Akhundzada was killed in a blast in Quetta.
However, senior commander Ahmadullah Wasiq had taken to Twitter to refute the claims.
“This is false news and baseless rumours have no truth. Spreading such rumours and false news is a failed propaganda attempt by the enemy’s intelligence services,” he had said…