Members of the Taliban and its supporters participate in a parade in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar. (file photo)
The fall of the Afghan government and the rapid advance of the Taliban in recent weeks have resulted in significant changes in the country’s political landscape. One such change is the emergence of the southern city of Kandahar as the de facto capital of Afghanistan under the Taliban’s rule. As the Taliban continue to tighten their grip on power, the situation in Kandahar is indicative of the challenges that lie ahead for Afghanistan.
Kandahar has long been a stronghold of the Taliban, with the group’s leader, Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, hailing from the city. The Taliban have maintained a significant presence in the city for years, with the group controlling large parts of the city even before their recent advance across the country. With the fall of Kabul and the collapse of the Afghan government, the Taliban have consolidated their hold on Kandahar, making it the de facto capital of the country.
The Taliban’s control of Kandahar has significant implications for the future of Afghanistan. The group’s leadership is likely to be based in the city, with Kandahar serving as a hub for the Taliban’s operations across the country. The group’s control of the city also gives them access to key resources and infrastructure, including the Kandahar International Airport, which could be used to facilitate the movement of people and goods in and out of the country.
However, the Taliban’s control of Kandahar is not without its challenges. The city has a history of ethnic and sectarian tensions, with Pashtuns, Tajiks, and Hazaras all living in the city. The Taliban, who are predominantly Pashtun, will need to navigate these tensions carefully to avoid sparking further conflict. In addition, the city has suffered from years of conflict and instability, with many residents still grappling with the legacy of the Taliban’s previous rule.
The situation in Kandahar is emblematic of the challenges that lie ahead for Afghanistan as the Taliban seek to consolidate their hold on power. The group’s control of the city provides them with a base from which to govern the country, but it also presents a number of challenges, including navigating ethnic and sectarian tensions and addressing the legacy of conflict and instability. The international community will need to engage with the Taliban to ensure that the group respects human rights and upholds its commitments to the Afghan people. At the same time, the Afghan people themselves will need to grapple with the reality of life under Taliban rule, as they seek to rebuild their country and create a more stable and prosperous future.
Afghanistan’s southern city of Kandahar is the historical birthplace and the political base of the Taliban. Now, the country’s second-largest city appears to be becoming the de facto capital under the militant group’s rule.
Several officials have recently been transferred from the capital, Kabul, to Kandahar. Taliban Supreme Leader Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada lives in the city and rarely leaves the Pashtun heartland in southern Afghanistan.
Experts say Akhundzada’s decision to relocate the offices of two Taliban spokesmen to Kandahar is part of efforts to tighten his grip on power. The move comes amid growing reports of infighting between key Taliban ministers based in Kabul and a powerful group of clerics led by Akhundzada in Kandahar.
In recent months, senior Taliban officials have appeared to criticize Akhundzada, accusing him of monopolizing power and empowering ultraconservative clerics who share his extremist views.
Akhundzada’s repressive policies have alienated Afghans and isolated the Taliban’s unrecognized government internationally. Under his leadership, the Taliban has severely curtailed women’s rights, stamped out the free press, and committed human rights abuses.
Akhundzada, a hard-line cleric and former chief justice, has the ultimate say on all important matters under the Taliban’s clerical system.
‘Appointing Loyalists Everywhere’
After the Taliban seized power in 2021, ministers carried out the day-to-day administration of the Taliban government. But in recent months, Akhundzada has sought to micromanage the affairs of the state, said Yousufzai.
A man holds stickers depicting Taliban supreme leader Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada at a market in Kabul. (file photo)
Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban’s chief spokesman, relocated his office from Kabul to Kandahar on April 6, according to Abdul Mateen Qani, a spokesman for the Ministry of Information and Culture.
Innamullah Samangani, another key government spokesman and head of the Taliban’s Media and Information Center, was also recently transferred to Kandahar.
Kandahar, a historically important political center, briefly served as the capital of Afghanistan, which was founded in 1747. Many of the kings that ruled the country until the monarchy was overthrown in 1973 hailed from the broader Kandahar region.
The Taliban first emerged in Kandahar during the civil war in Afghanistan in the mid-1990s. Its founder, Mullah Mohammad Omar, kept Kandahar as the de facto capital even after the Taliban seized control of Kabul in 1996. The hard-line Islamist group was ousted from power by the U.S.-led invasion in 2001.
Andrew Watkins, a senior Afghanistan expert at the United States Institute of Peace think tank in Washington, says Mujahid’s transfer is one of the most public signs of a trend in which Akhundzada appears to be strengthening his influence.
Watkins said Akhundzada wants control over “public messaging,” which he says has “long been a priority for the Taliban.”
The Taliban has denied that the decision to relocate senior officials to Kandahar is part of a power struggle.
Mujahid said part of his office has moved to Kandahar in order to report more closely on the meetings and other activities of the Taliban chief. “The recent move doesn’t amount to transferring the capital to Kandahar,” Mujahid told Radio Azadi.
But observers are not convinced.
“There are factions within the Taliban that want more power,” Tariq Farhadi, an Afghan political analyst based in Europe, told Radio Azadi. “It paints an overall worrying picture for the future of the Taliban.”
Source: Coverpage and agencies
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Coverpage’s editorial stance
