Monitoring Desk
KABUL: Major differences have emerged within the Taliban leadership in Afghanistan, said the experts on Monday after a senior government official described the country’s situation as “intolerable” over the weekend.
Acting Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani is under criticism following his critical comment on the current situation in Afghanistan during a public event on Saturday. “The current situation is intolerable. If the public situation becomes unstable and worse, it is our responsibility to bring them closer to us,” said Haqqani.
The statement comes as the country plunges deeper into an economic and humanitarian crisis following the Taliban takeover in 2021. It also follows increasingly restrictive orders targeting women that are seen as further isolating Afghanistan from the international community.
The remarks from the acting interior minister prompted a response from Zabiullah Mujahid, the Taliban spokesman, who was of the view that criticism of any leader or official should be said in private. The latest developments show how the Taliban are facing major differences within their leadership, the experts said.
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According to Hamza Momain Hakimi, a political science lecturer at the Salam University in Kabul, the Taliban are divided into two factions. Hakimi told Arab News that one faction represents a minority but comprises strong and powerful members, who hold important positions in the Afghanistan government and are “imposing their own narrow narrative from Islam,”.
The other faction represents a vast majority which opposes the minority opinion on many issues, including policies related to the Afghan women’s work and education, and their role in Afghan society, he said.
Hakimi further said that such a statement from the powerful people like Sirajuddin Haqqani clearly shows that there is grouping within the Taliban. “There is a minority and there is a majority, but unfortunately, that minority is more powerful than the majority,” he added.
Emerging differences might lead to internal conflict
Experts believe that the emerging differences might pave way for an internal conflict. The Afghan people want these differences among the leading personalities to end easily because the problems among them will lead to a serious conflict in the country and Afghanistan will return to the civil war like the one occurred in the 90s.
