The Taliban, which also refers to itself by its state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalist, militant Islamist, jihadist, and pro-Pashtun political movement in Afghanistan. It ruled approximately three-quarters of the country from 1996 to 2001, before being overthrown following the United States invasion. It recaptured Kabul on 15 August 2021 after years of insurgency, and currently controls all of the country, although its government is not recognized by any country yet. The Taliban government has been criticized for restricting human rights in Afghanistan, including the right of women and girls to work and education.
Mullah Muhammad Omar Mujahid was an Afghan cleric, Islamist partisan fighter and political leader. He founded the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (Taliban) in 1994 and served as its first leader until his death, including as the head of its government from 1996 to 2001. His death, however, remained concealed until July 2015, during which time the Taliban continued to issue statements in his name. Known for his reclusivity, he was a revered figure within the Taliban.
The Taliban insurgency was an insurgency that began after the group's fall from power during the 2001 War in Afghanistan. The Taliban forces fought against the Afghan government, led by President Hamid Karzai, and later by President Ashraf Ghani, and against a US-led coalition of forces that has included all members of NATO; the 2021 Taliban offensive resulted in the collapse of the government of Ashraf Ghani.
Maulavi Mohammed Abdul Kabir is a senior member of the Taliban leadership and an acting third deputy prime minister, alongside Abdul Ghani Baradar and Abdul Salam Hanafi, of Afghanistan since 4 October 2021. He previously was the acting prime minister of Afghanistan from 16 April 2001 to 13 November 2001.
Sirajuddin Haqqani is an Afghan Islamist militant, who has been serving as the first deputy leader of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (Taliban) since 2016. Since the 2021 fall of Kabul, this position has made him the de facto first deputy head of state of Afghanistan. The leader of the Haqqani network, a semi-autonomous paramilitary arm of the Taliban, he has primarily been active in military affairs.
Abdul Qayyum "Zakir", also known by the nom de guerre Abdullah Ghulam Rasoul, is the current acting Deputy Minister of Defense of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. He previously served as the acting Defense Minister, from 24 August 2021 to 7 September 2021.
The Leadership Council of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, also translated as the Supreme Council, is the central governing body of the Taliban and—since the 2021 fall of Kabul and previously from 1996 to 2001—of Afghanistan. The Taliban uses a consensus decision-making model among members of the Leadership Council, though the supreme leader, who chairs the council, has ultimate authority and may override or circumvent it at any time. It played a key role in directing the Taliban insurgency from Quetta, Pakistan, which led to it being informally referred to as the Quetta Shura at the time.
Abdul Ghani Baradar is an Afghan political and religious leader who is currently the acting first deputy prime minister alongside Abdul Salam Hanafi and Abdul Kabir, of Afghanistan. The co-founder of the Taliban movement along with Mullah Omar, he was Omar's top deputy from 2002 to 2010, and since 2019 he has been the Taliban's fourth-in-command, as the third of Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada's three deputies.
Mohammad Hasan Rahmani, also written Muhammad Hassan Rahmani, was the governor of Kandahar Province for the Taliban until 2001 and then a member of the Taliban's top council, the Rahbari Shura.
Muhammad Rasul was the leader of the High Council of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, a Taliban dissident group in Afghanistan, until the group's dissolution in 2021. He was a Taliban-appointed governor of Nimruz Province, Afghanistan. Rasul exerted pressure and suppression on Pashtun factions unpopular with the Taliban, and made a considerable fortune controlling cross-border drug-smuggling through Nimruz.
Akhtar Mohammad Mansour was the second leader of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (Taliban), an Islamic fundamentalist political movement in Afghanistan. Succeeding the founding leader, Mullah Omar, he was the supreme leader from July 2015 to May 2016, when he was killed in a US drone strike in Balochistan, Pakistan.
Najibullah, often referred to as Mullah Najibullah or Hajji Najibullah, and also known by the pseudonym Omar Khitab, is the leader of the Taliban splinter group Fidai Mahaz in Afghanistan.
Hibatullah Akhundzada, also spelled Haibatullah Akhunzada, is an Afghan Islamic scholar, cleric, and jurist who is the third and current leader of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (Taliban), serving since 2016. Since the 2021 fall of Kabul, this position has made him Afghanistan's de facto ruler and head of state. However, he has remained a reclusive figure, and his low profile has fueled speculations about his role in the new Taliban government, and rumours that he may be dead. Except for an undated photograph, and several audio recordings of speeches, he has almost no digital footprint.
Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob Mujahid is an Afghan Islamic scholar, cleric, and Islamist militant who has served as the second deputy leader of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (Taliban) since 2016. Since the 2021 fall of Kabul, this position has made him the de facto second deputy head of state of Afghanistan. He has also been the Taliban's military chief since 2020, and is the acting defense minister of Afghanistan in the Islamic Emirate's caretaker cabinet.
The Islamic State–Taliban conflict is an ongoing armed conflict between the Islamic State and the Taliban in Afghanistan. The conflict escalated when militants who were affiliated with Islamic State – Khorasan Province killed Abdul Ghani, a senior Taliban commander in Logar province on 2 February 2015. Since then, Taliban and IS-KP have engaged in clashes over the control of territory, mostly in eastern Afghanistan, but clashes have also occurred between the Taliban and IS-KP cells which are located in the north-west and south-west.
The leader of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, also referred to as the supreme leader of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is the emir of the Taliban and—since the fall of Kabul in 2021 and previously from 1996 to 2001—the de facto ruler and head of state of Afghanistan. A supreme leader, the emir has unlimited authority on all matters of Taliban and Afghan governance, though the consultative Leadership Council significantly influences his decision-making. He is a national religious leader in addition to a political and military one. The current leader is Hibatullah Akhundzada, who assumed office on 25 May 2016, upon being chosen by the Leadership Council.
Mohammad Hasan Akhund is an Afghan mullah, politician and Taliban leader who is currently the acting prime minister of Afghanistan.
The politics of Afghanistan are dominated by the Taliban Islamic Movement, which has the sole authority to make government appointments. Following their takeover of Afghanistan, the Taliban announced a caretaker government on 7 September 2021 consisting entirely of established Taliban figures from the insurgency period.
The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is the Taliban's governing authority and system of Afghanistan. After the Afghan Civil War in 1996 until its overthrow in the US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, the system of the Islamic Emirate governed a majority of Afghanistan. The governing structure of the Islamic Emirate was maintained throughout the ensuing Taliban insurgency, but did not govern the country. After the Fall of Kabul on 15 August 2021, the Islamic Emirate again became the de facto governing system of Afghanistan.
The shura held outside Quetta unanimously elected Mullah Mansour as the new emir of the Taliban
At the time of his appointment as Taliban chief by the Rahbari Shura (leadership council)
an autocratic political system that eschews democracy
