TALIBAN 2.0: THE LEADERS WHO CALL THE SHOTS
Hasan Akhund
Prime Minister
One of the founding members of the Taliban, Hasan Akhund will looks after the day to day of governing. He was a former deputy PM and foreign minister during the Taliban’s government that took control in the 1990s. After the Taliban fell from power, he remained low-profile, helping to coordinate and run the Taliban’s leadership council in Quetta, Pakistan.
Ghani Baradar
Deputy Prime Minister
Considered one of the most brutal commanders on the battlefield, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the new deputy PM, served along with Mullah Mohammad Omar, the Taliban’s founder.
He was detained in a joint US-Pakistani raid in 2010. Because of his respect within the Taliban and his previous openness to dialogue, he was released to lead the talks that began in 2019 with the US.
Sirajuddin Haqqani
Interior Minister
Sirajuddin Haqqani (48), is emerging as one of the biggest winners in the return of the Taliban to power. He will be the acting interior minister, in charge of law and order and possibly even local governance. In 2016, he became one of two deputies to the Taliban’s supreme leader, Sheikh Hibatullah Akhundzada, overseeing a sprawling web of fighters and religious schools, and leading Taliban’s military efforts.
His Haqqani network, known for its ties to the Pakistani intelligence service, was the most dogged opponent of the US presence in Afghanistan. It was responsible for targeted assassinations and suicide bombings, including truck bombings that killed civilians.
Mohammad Yaqoub
Defence Minister
Mohammad Yaqoub (30s), is the head of the Taliban’s military commission, and is the oldest son of Omar. Concerns about his youth became a factor in the eventual decision to choose Akhundzada as Taliban’s overall leader. In recent days he took an increasingly public role in trying to keep order after the group’s triumphant take over.
Amir Khan Muttaqi
Foreign Minister
Amir Khan Muttaqi, Taliban’s new foreign minister served as culture minister, then education minister, in the first Taliban government. During the two decades of the Taliban insurgency, he helped shape the group’s strategy for propaganda and psychological warfare, before serving as chief of staff and as a member of Taliban delegation in Qatar.
Abdul Haq Wasiq
Intelligence chief
Abdul Haq Wasiq was one of the five Guantanamo Bay prisoners released in exchange for US prisoner of war, Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl. While all five detainees who were part of the Bergdahl exchange have gotten senior positions, Wasiq steps into the key role of leading the same intelligence agency where he served as deputy in the 1990s.
Zabihulla Mujahid
Taliban Spokesperson
Zabihullah Mujahid (43) has been the Taliban’s main spokesperson for years. But the world did not see his face until Aug. 17, when he conducted the first inperson news conference. Since then, he has played a primary role in trying to urge Afghans and the world to accept the Taliban as legitimate rulers of Afghanistan.