Topic - Hibatullah Akhundzada

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People wave to a military helicopter after it dropped flowers over the city during celebrations marking the fourth anniversary of the U.S. withdrawal and the start of Taliban rule in Kabul, Afghanistan, Friday, Aug. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Siddiqullah Alizai)

Afghan women barred from Taliban takeover anniversary celebrations in Kabul

Associated Press

In this undated and unknown location photo, the new leader of Taliban fighters, Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada is photographed. The Taliban's reclusive supreme leader is urging his officials to set aside their differences. Public dissent within the Taliban is rare, but some senior figures have expressed their disagreement with the leadership's decision making, especially the ban on female education. The written statement on Saturday April 6, 2024 from Hibatullah Akhundzada was published ahead of the Eid al-Fitr holiday that marks the end of Ramadan. (Afghan Islamic Press via AP, File)

Reclusive Taliban leader releases Eid message urging officials to set aside their differences

Associated Press

File - Taliban fighters celebrate one year since they seized the Afghan capital, Kabul, in front of the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, Aug. 15, 2022. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi, File)

The Taliban are entrenched in Afghanistan after 2 years of rule. Women and girls pay the price

By Riazat Butt - Associated Press

In this undated photo from an unknown location, released in 2016, the leader of the Afghanistan Taliban Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhundzada poses for a portrait. The Taliban's supreme leader says, on Wednesday, April 12, 2023, Afghanistan will be ruined without justice, in a rare audio message shared on social media. Hibatullah Akhundzada, an Islamic scholar, almost never appears in public and hardly ever leaves the Taliban heartland in southern Kandahar province. (Afghan Islamic Press via AP, File)

Reclusive Taliban leader releases end-of-Ramadan message

Associated Press

In this undated photo from an unknown location, released in 2016, the leader of the Afghanistan Taliban Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhundzada poses for a portrait. The Taliban's supreme leader says, on Wednesday, April 12, 2023, Afghanistan will be ruined without justice, in a rare audio message shared on social media. Hibatullah Akhundzada, an Islamic scholar, almost never appears in public and hardly ever leaves the Taliban heartland in southern Kandahar province. (Afghan Islamic Press via AP, File)

Taliban share rare, months-old audio from reclusive leader

Associated Press

Taliban acting Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani speaks during a graduation ceremony at the police academy in Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, March 5, 2022. A rare public show of division has arisen in the ranks of Afghanistan's ruling Taliban. A senior Taliban figure publicly criticized the group's leadership in a speech, accusing some of monopolizing power. The comments by Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani were seen as directed at the Taliban's supreme leader, Haibatullah Akhundzada. (AP Photo, File)

Ruling Taliban display rare division in public over bans

By Rahim Faiez - Associated Press