In the days following the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan, a number of figures from the movement, including veteran commandos, armed religious school students and senior leaders returning from exile, entered Kabul, but there was one major exception: Supreme leader of group.
AFP reported: Hebatullah Akhundzadeh has been out of the shadows since 2016 to oversee a crisis movement and has since led the Taliban.
After taking control of the militant group, the cleric was tasked with solving the great challenge of uniting an extremist movement that had been divided for a short time during a bitter power struggle.
The internal conflict escalated after several major blows were dealt to the Taliban, including the assassination of its previous leader and the revelation of its leaders’ secrecy over the death of Taliban founder Mullah Omar.
Little is known about Akhundzadeh’s daily role, and his public activities are largely limited to publishing annual messages during Islamic holidays.
The leader has never had a public presence other than a single image released by the Taliban, and his whereabouts remain largely unknown.
The Taliban have been silent on Akhundzadeh’s movements since taking control of Kabul in mid-August.
Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, recently told reporters in response to a question about Akhundzadeh’s whereabouts: “God willing, you will see him soon.”
The silence comes as leaders of several Taliban groups have publicly prayed in Kabul mosques, met with opposition figures and even talked to Afghan cricket officials in recent days.
The Taliban have a long history of keeping its leader in the shadows.
Mullah Mohammad Omar, the mysterious founder of the Taliban, was known for her secularism and rarely traveled to Kabul when the group was in power in the 1990s.
Instead, Omar was mostly out of sight at his home in Kandahar and even reluctant to meet with delegations from Afghanistan.
However, his words were still valid, and no other figure who commanded the movement has ever been respected as much as he is.
Laurel Miller, head of Asia at the International Crisis Group, said Akhundzadeh appeared to have adopted a life-like style of solitude.
Miller added that security reasons may also contribute to the secrecy, citing the assassination of former Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour in a US drone strike.
Miller told AFP: A Taliban spokesman has said that their leader will appear soon, and that he may have good reasons for doing so, including dispelling suspicions about his death.
He stated: But he may also step back from exercising after showing himself.
Akhundzadeh’s absence came after years of rumors about his health, and in Pakistan and Afghanistan there was talk of him being infected with Kuwait or killed in a bombing.
These rumors have not been substantiated, but Akhundzadeh’s concealment comes at a critical time for the militant movement.
A 2015 revelation that Taliban leaders had hidden Mullah Omar’s death for years led to a brief but bloody power struggle in which at least one Taliban-affiliated group split.
As the Taliban transition from war to rule, it is necessary for the group to strike a balance between the interests of its various affiliates in order to consolidate power.
Others say the group is waiting for US-led forces to make their final withdrawal from Afghanistan in the coming days.
“A security analyst based in Pakistan,” Imtia Gol said: The Taliban consider themselves in a state of jihad as long as foreign troops are on Afghan soil and will likely keep their leaders hidden until they leave. For this reason, there has been no news of its supreme leader so far.