From the recent statements and positions of Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, it appears that he has now become the “nose hair” of the Taliban, especially the leader of this group. Since Stanekzai is also a senior member of the Taliban, his statements have become the headlines of the Afghan media and beyond.
From what Stanekzai says, nothing can be understood except that the Taliban group is not unified as it appears and suffers from internal strife. A conflict that may become more intense. A new and unconfirmed news that has leaked out indicates the escalation of the conflict – Stankzai has fled to Dubai.
It is said that he was sentenced to arrest by the Taliban leader because of his statements. But with the help of other officials of this group, he managed to leave. Of course, after the publication of this news, Stanikzai announced that he was going to rest for a few days without specifying his location. His resting place is not known: Dubai or Kabul?
Of course, talk about the fragmentation of the Taliban had also been raised before, especially after Khalil al-Rahman Haqqani, the former minister of refugee, was assassinated.
More importantly, the replacement of Maulvi Abdul Kabir instead of Haqqani, in which he is also not going to the Ministry of Migration while accepting this position has strengthened the speculations that the Taliban is not unified. But the thing that tore the veil of ambiguity and revealed more things and made the internal rivalry of the Taliban a matter of course in the eyes of many, is Stanekzai’s positions and what is going to happen to him.
There are some points need more considerations
First:
Stanekzai’s criticism of the Taliban leader is not new – with the difference that recently his tone has become more naked compared to the past, to the extent that he has provided many reasons for astonishment. Meanwhile, the mildness of the Taliban leader towards his statements is questionable. In the situation where the rest of the authorities of this group summarize the level of obedience to Mullah Hebatullah Akhundzadeh as “the obedience like a dead”.
So far, Stanekzai has not been arrested nor has any restrictions been placed on his work – rather, with a stronger presence than before in Taliban circles, he has criticized the behavior of his leader towards the education of girls.
Therefore, it is possible that the fight between Stanekzai and the leader is a fabrication as they want to show that there are different views within the Taliban regime, and that its owners have complete freedom in expressing their opinion and are not reprimanded for what they say.
Here, seducing the international community is the goal – it does not seem difficult. If not, considering the rigid and inflexible nature of the Taliban regime, criticism of its members against Mullah Hebatullah is apparently not possible, unless the critic wants to say goodbye to the regime or, in the most pessimistic case, to his life.
Second:
It can be the opposite of the first case – this means that the leader of the Taliban is not able to control Stanekzai. If so, then he is not alone and is definitely being led by a branch of the Taliban. It may benefit from the support of some countries, organizations and foreign personalities.
For example, every time Stanekzai has criticized his leader, Zalamy Khalilzad, the architect of the Doha agreement, has supported him by tweeting and calling it beneficial to remove the Taliban, who are called “pragmatic”. Now that Donald Trump is in the White House, Khalilzad’s statements are a “strong support” for those Taliban officials who were with him in Doha.
Therefore, when Stanekzai is not alone, it is difficult to take action to restrain him. If Mullah Hebatullah does not stop again, it will be inevitable that the tension between the Taliban will increase too much. Something that can sound the alarm of collapse.
Third:
If we look carefully, no factor can weaken the Taliban or shorten the life of this group’s regime as much as internal differences. For this reason, all Taliban officials in their speeches emphasize internal unity and unquestioning obedience to their emir (supreme leader), even Stankzai who is famous for criticizing his leader.
In his recent speech in Kandahar, Mullah Hebatullah warned Taliban members not to be afraid of foreign pressure but to avoid internal differences. Of course, when the Taliban authorities find out that criticizing their leader affects the survival of their regime, they will hold their tongues and do what the supreme leader says.
When the Taliban are caught in internal conflict, the countries that are walking with crutches in the face of this group will find a means to exert pressure. In the meantime, figures from the Taliban who are considered “practical” come to their work. Of course, the story of supporting the opposition forces of the Taliban, who call themselves democratic and alternative to this group, is not included – because in the past three years, they haven’t done even a minimum to restore their reputation and discredit their competitors.
If the internal conflict of the Taliban increases to such an extent that the disaffected members of this group leave Afghanistan willingly or by force, the work will be easier for the world – because the disaffected Taliban get a free platform abroad and regardless of internal pressure, they expose their leader to more pressure, which will have these two consequences: 1 – Mullah Hebatullah tries to obtain the satisfaction of the disaffected and facilitate their safe return to Afghanistan, which will lead to maintaining the internal unity of the Taliban, but with minimal adjustments in form and substance.
2- it does not value the disaffected, and the world paves the ground for dialogue between them and the opposing forces of the Taliban, and the space for the creation of an inclusive government opens up more than in the past. Of course, the second option seems out of reach for now, unless the number of disgruntled Taliban is added. Therefore, the Taliban will try their best to keep Stanekzai alone and not to become “nose hair”.
Fourth:
If we pay close attention, Stanekzai’s frank criticisms are out of goodwill for the Taliban. In the sense that the regime considers the life of this group to depend on Mullah Hebatullah’s change in behavior, not on his broadening the range of restrictions and prohibitions on women’s lives.
Stanekzai is not seeking to establish a comprehensive democratic government in which human rights, elections, inclusion of all ethnic groups, etc,,, are ensured, rather, it is only attached to the education of girls, because of the apparent sensitivity of Westerners on the issue. Stanekzai in his statement said that [only] banning girls from education caused the world to turn against the Taliban. That is, there is no challenge in other fields and the situation is completely as intended.
The result is that the internal conflict of the Taliban is not serious enough to make the leader of this group reconsider his behavior. More importantly, Stankzai will not do anything on his own, except to expose the conflict. In any case, we have to wait and see what the level and depth of the conflict is, what direction it will take, how much the countries are looking for profit and where the story of the Afghanistan case will reach.