Reliable sources have said that Taliban Interior Minister, Sirajuddin Haqqani has not returned to Afghanistan after about a month. This is while the spokesperson of the Taliban 14 days ago said that Haqqani has returned to the country after the end of his trip from UAE and Saudi Arabia.
The Taliban has not published any news about Sirajuddin Haqqani’s activities in the past few weeks.
Two sources told Harici that the reason for Haqqani’s return is “dissatisfaction with the unilateral decisions” of the Taliban leader.
The Taliban announced a month ago that Sirajuddin Haqqani went to the United Arab Emirates together with Abdul Haq Wasiq, the head of the group’s intelligence.
Abbas Stanekzai, the political deputy of the Taliban’s foreign ministry, was also forced to leave Afghanistan and seek refuge in the United Arab Emirates due to criticism of the Taliban supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada’s policies, especially regarding women’s education.
According to reports, Haqqani and Stanekzai are part of the pragmatic figures of the Taliban who are worried about the consequences of the Taliban leader’s decisions.
Haqqani is unhappy with Taliban leader’s decision on girls education and women’s work
A source told Harici that Haqqani is unhappy with the Taliban leader’s orders regarding the education of women and girls.
He added that Haqqani also considers the transfer of special forces, weapons and other military equipment to Kandahar as Akhundzada’s attempt to concentrate power and isolate influential figures of the Taliban.
In a new move, Akhundzada has ordered the transfer of the 313rd Badr Army Corps, which was under the influence of the Haqqani network, to Kandahar, which has increased the scope of disputes between Haqqani and Akhundzada.
It is said that Akhundzada removed Azizuddin, the former commander of Badr and the brother of the Minister of Interior, from the leadership of this unit after being summoned to Kandahar.
The Taliban leader has also dismissed Kandahar’s security commander, who was in charge of the interior minister’s responsibilities, in Haqqani’s absence, and appointed a new commander in his place.
By changing the positions under Sirajuddin Haqqani, Hebatullah Akhundzada has shown that he has the first and last word in determining the government of this group. Akhundzada recently appointed Maulvi Abdul Ahad Taleb, one of his trusted people, as the police commander of Kandahar. It seems that this designation has been made to protect the Taliban leader as much as possible against threats such as internal coups and ISIS attacks.
Haqqani and Stanekzai in Dubai, but Mullah Baradar in Doha
A credible source told Harici that Sirajuddin Haqqani lives in the United Arab Emirates with his mother, who is an Arab.
On his trip to Dubai, after meeting with the officials of this country, Haqqani went to Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah. He already went to Umran once but gong for the second time in one year could be described as an unusual decision.
On December 27, the UN Security Council announced that Mullah Baradar, the economic deputy of the Taliban prime minister, had traveled to Qatar for a one-month treatment.
The frequent and non-returning trips of senior Taliban officials in recent months have strengthened the speculations that the dissatisfaction in the Taliban group is increasing.
Earlier this year, the United Nations Security Council issued a travel ban waiver for three high-ranking Taliban officials to travel to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates for religious and diplomatic purposes.
In the meantime, the aforementioned committee approved the exemption of Sirajuddin Haqqani’s travel on the second day of this year and allowed him to travel to Saudi Arabia from the 3rd to the 14th of the month to perform Umrah.
The UN Security Council also approved Mullah Baradar’s travel exemption for one month and he left for Qatar. Mullah Baradar met with the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Qatar in Doha last week.
