In today's video, we'll be discussing the 10 most important members of the Taliban.
welcome back to FTD Facts. I'm Sarah Carvalho, and today I've got an interesting video for you.
We've been getting a ton of requests from you all, requesting more Afghanistan and
Taliban-related videos. So today, we're going to be looking a little bit into the power structure
of the Taliban, by looking at the 10 most important or prominent members of the group. Now this list
will be comprised of individuals who are currently in a prominent position, as well as
some significant members of the Taliban who may no longer play active roles. So, without further delay,
let's get into it. Alright, starting out at number 10, we have the "Rahbari Shura," or The Leadership
Council. So, I know we said that this would be the top 10 people, but before we get into talking about
specific members of the Taliban regime, it's really important to understand its power structure first.
In the original Taliban movement of the 1990s, there were different viewpoints within the
Taliban members. However, at that time this did not really matter because the Taliban's movement was
run autocratically by Mullah Omar, who was making all the key decisions. In the new regime though,
this doesn't seem to be the case. The Taliban have adopted a collegial leadership model, with
a Leadership Council or Rahbari Shura. This is endowed with significant decision-making powers.
The leadership structure is set up so that the official leader is no longer an autocrat and has
to seek the consensus of the Rahbari Shura for any major decisions he makes. Alright, so "Mullah Mohammad
Omar," makes it onto our list today because he is the original founder of the faction
which emerged in Afghanistan in the mid-1990s. Mullah Omar, a member of the Pashtun tribe,
originally formed the group of nearly 50 followers. He himself, had become a Mujahideen
commander, which, the term "Mujahideen" or "Mujahid," in the broad sense means - Muslims who fight on behalf
of the faith or the Muslim community. Initially, Mullah Omar aimed to wage a war against the Soviets
who were forced out of Afghanistan in 1989. following the withdrawal of Soviet troops, the
collapse of Afghanistan's communist regime, and the subsequent breakdown in civil order, the country
fell into a civil war. Mullah Omar's followers were meant to fight the corruption and crime
that prevailed in Afghanistan during the civil war, in the post-soviet period. When the first Taliban
regime ended, Mullah Omar fled and went into hiding, as a 10 million dollar bounty had been offered
for his capture. In 2015, the Taliban officially confirmed Mullah Omar had passed away, saying he
had passed away more than two years earlier, but that he had always lived in Afghanistan and never
fled to other countries. His eldest son, "Mohammad Yaqoob," said that his father died in Afghanistan
after suffering from what some sources say was tuberculosis and other sources say was hepatitis C.
Alright, coming up next, we have "Zabiullah Mujahid." Zabiullah is an official spokesman for the Islamic Emirate
of Afghanistan. He has long served as one of several spokesmen for the Taliban. The others
being, "Suhail Shaheen" and "Yousef Ahmadi." Mujahid often commented mainly on the Taliban's activities in
eastern, northern, and central Afghanistan, while, Ahmadi focused on the western and southern regions.
Now, Mujahid is not famous for his appearances in public. In fact he appeared publicly in
person on the 17th of August, 2021. Prior to that, he regularly communicated with
journalists and spoke on behalf of the Taliban via cell phone calls, text messages, emails, Twitter, and
posting on jihadi websites. Mujahid was appointed in January 2007, following the
arrest of Taliban spokesman, "Muhammad Hanif." Next, we're going to be talking about "Akhtar Mohammad Mansour."
Mullah Mansour, was born in the 1960s in Kandahar province, and was the Civil Aviation Minister of the
Taliban's rule in Afghanistan. After the capture of Kandahar airport, he was appointed as Director
General or otherwise termed, Security Officer in Charge of The Kandahar Airport. A role which
encompassed both the air force and air-defense systems of Kandahar. After the taking of Kabul in
1996, he was made Director of Ariana Airlines and additionally, Minister of the Emirates for Aviation
and Tourism by Mohammad Omar. He later served as Shadow Governor in Kandahar from some time
after 2001, until May 2007. Mansour assumed the leadership of the Taliban in July of 2015,
replacing Taliban founder and spiritual head, Mullah Mohammad Omar in May of 2016. It was
confirmed that Mullah Mansoor had been killed after the U.S targeted him in a drone strike.
It is believed that the drone targeted his vehicle in a remote area of southwest Pakistan, near the
Afghan border. Now, according to U.S Secretary of State, "John Kerry," Mansour had posed a continuing
imminent threat to U.S personnel. Coming in at number 6, we have "Abdul Hakim Haqqani." Abdul
Haqqani, is the current head of the Taliban's negotiating team in Doha, Qatar. He was officially
appointed by the Taliban in September of 2020. He is the Taliban's former Shadow Chief Justice,
and currently also heads its powerful council of religious scholars. He is widely believed to
be the person most trusted by the new leader of the regime, which we will be talking about
later. So, be sure to stick around for that. Abdul Haqqani is believed to be around 60 years old.
He reportedly ran a Madrassa, or an Islamic religious school, in Quetta, Pakistan, from where he
also supervised the judiciary of the Taliban. Alright, and bringing us to the halfway point in our
video, we have "Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai." Born in 1963, Stanikzai joined the Taliban in the 1990s.
He is a senior member of the Taliban. and the Deputy Head of their political office
in Doha, Qatar. As a young man, he was an officer in the Afghan national army. After training at an army
academy in India, he defected from the army and joined Islamic movements to fight the Soviets
in Afghanistan. Now, he was actually a Deputy Cabinet Minister in the first regime, and he
often gave interviews to foreign media, as he speaks English quite well. He has been a senior
member of the Taliban's political office in Doha since it was set up in 2012, and was its head from
2015 to 2020. He speaks English, Urdu, Pashto, and Dari, and has traveled widely to other countries
as a Taliban political representative. He has taken part in negotiations with the Afghan government,
and has represented the Taliban on diplomatic trips to several countries. Stanikzai addressed
Afghanistan on national television and radio on August 30th, 2021, where he spoke of the Taliban's
desire for friendly relations with the United States, NATO, and India, further stating that
he would not allow Pakistan to use Afghan territory in its cold conflict with India.
Stanikzai also spoke of the country's Sikhs and Hindus, stating that they can live peacefully and
hoping that those who left will return. Alright, moving on to "Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar." Mullah
Abdul Ghani Baradar, is one of the four men who founded the Taliban in Afghanistan in the early
1990s. Baradar now heads the political office of the Taliban and is part of the group's negotiating
team in Doha, Qatar. Baradar is reported to have been one of Mullah Omar's most trusted commanders.
He was captured in February 2010 by security forces in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi.
He remained in prison for 8 years until he was released in 2018, as part of a plan to facilitate
the peace process. He has been the head of their political office in Qatar since January 2019.
Apparently in 2020, Baradar became the first Taliban leader to communicate directly with a U.S
president after having a telephone conversation with Donald Trump. You can only imagine what was
said during that conversation. Before that, Baradar signed the Doha Agreement on the withdrawal of
U.S troops on behalf of the Taliban. Today, Baradar is the main political leader of the militant group
and has returned to Afghanistan. In a statement to the public, he said, "We have achieved a victory
that was not expected. Now, it is about how we serve and protect our people." Alright, next,
we have Sirajuddin Haqqani." So, Sirajuddin Haqqani is another of the group's top deputy leaders. The son
of prominent Mujahideen commander, Jalaluddin Haqqani, Sirajuddin leads the "Haqqani Network"
- a loosely organized group that oversees the Taliban's financial and military assets across the
Pakistan-Afghanistan border. His network has been credited with some of the most violent attacks
that have occurred in Afghanistan against Afghan forces and their Western allies in recent years.
Haqqani is believed to be in his late 40s or early 50s, and his whereabouts are currently
unknown. In an opinion piece in the New York Times, released before the signing of the Doha
Agreement, Haqqani wrote: "For more than four decades, precious Afghan lives have been lost every day.
Everyone has lost somebody they loved. Everyone is tired of war. I am convinced that the killing and
the maiming must stop." Sirajuddin Haqqani is wanted for questioning in connection with the January
2008 attack on a hotel in Kabul, Afghanistan that killed six people, including an American citizen. He
is believed to have coordinated and participated in cross-border attacks against the United States
and coalition forces in Afghanistan. Haqqani also allegedly, was involved in the planning of the
assassination attempt on Afghan President Hamid Karzai, in 2008. The Rewards for Justice Program
United States Department of State, is offering a reward of up to 5 million dollars for
information leading directly to the arrest of Haqqani. Alright, coming in at number 2, we
have "Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob." Believed to be in his early 30s, the son of the Taliban founder,
Mullah Omar, Yaqoob oversees the group's military operations, and local media reports have said he
is residing in Afghanistan. Following the death of former Taliban leader Akhtar Mansour in 2016,
some militants wanted to appoint Yaqoob as the group's new supreme commander, but others felt he
was young and lacking in experience. He nominated "Haibatullah Akhunzada," in 2016, as he agreed that
he lacked battlefield experience, and was too young. As the new Taliban regime continued to
make its advances in Afghanistan, Yaqoob urged Taliban fighters not to harm members of the
Afghan military or government, and to stay out of abandoned homes of government and security
officials who had fled. Now, this is according to the Associated Press News Agency. And, coming in
at number 1 today, we have, "Haibatullah Akhunzada." Known as the Leader of the Faithful, the Islamic
legal scholar is the Taliban Supreme Leader who holds final authority over the group's political,
religious, and military affairs. Akhunzada took over when his predecessor Akhtar Mansour was killed in
a U.S drone attack near the Afghan-Pakistan border in may of 2016, as I mentioned earlier.
In the 1980s, he participated in the Islamist resistance against the Soviet military campaign
in Afghanistan. But, his reputation is more that of a religious leader than a military commander.
Akhunzada worked as head of the Sharia Courts in the 1990s. Akhunzada is believed to be in his
60s, and has lived most of his life in Afghanistan. In may 2021, Akhunzada called the Afghan people to
unite for the development of an Islamic State once the United States forces withdraw. In August 2021,
forces under his nominal command began a general offensive, seeking to achieve a final victory in
the war. During the leadership of Akhunzada, the United States troops have withdrawn,
and the Taliban has gained control of Kabul. Alright friends, that brings us to the end of
today's video, showcasing 10 of the Most Important or prominent Members of the Taliban's regime.
We hope you were able to learn some new facts as well as, gain some new insights into the hierarchy
of power within the Taliban. As always, we love to hear from you. So, be sure to drop any comments,
thoughts, and opinions, related to today's video below. And if you've enjoyed this video, we have
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