The clerics appear to feel side-lined and have been acting as cogs in the politicians’ wheels, as epitomised by their issue with the re-opening of girls’ high schools and their demands to postpone such plan in March.Īt the same time, the Emirate faces a growing number of external challenges. While regional factions battle for influence and control, another divide has emerged between the ultra-conservative clerics of the south - who, with some justification, consider themselves the core of the movement - and the ‘policy makers’ and ‘politicians’ who have run the movement throughout their ‘jihad’. In particular, the Helmandis seem the most upset. The Helmandi Taliban, the Western Taliban groups, and most of the Eastern Taliban all sit rather uncomfortably at the margins of the ‘ruling coalition’. While, at the leadership level, the Taliban have mostly been able to find a modus vivendi and slowly reached a consensus on a number of issues, at the grassroot level deep contrasts continue to divide Serajuddin Haqqani’s and the Kandahar Taliban’s followers, despite them essentially being the ruling coalition guiding the Emirate forward.Īmong the smaller groupings, the Tajik faction led by Qari Fasihuddin has been able to uneasily maintain a relationship with the ‘ruling coalition’, while the Uzbek faction of Salahuddin Ayubi has been thoroughly purged from power positions. Though there have been a number of statements issued by him or in his name, including verbal ones, he appears to be doing little to steer his deeply divided organisation out of trouble. Rumours about the health and fate of the leader, Haibatullah Akhundzada, continue to circulate, bolstered by his reluctance with public appearances. The lack of resources has nonetheless ensured that intra-Taliban tensions have remained high over the past twelve months. The Taliban are able to raise about $2 billion per year in customs and taxes, keeping the state more or less afloat. It is worth pointing out that it has not imploded yet, despite the dire economic situation. One year after the fall of Kabul into the hands of the Taliban, it is time for a first assessment of how the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has performed so far.
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