How are the Taliban organized?

Recreating the Taliban Steering Council after September 11th

The Taliban's arrival to the top of the country in recent weeks was just as rapid as their fall from the intervention of international coalition forces in 2001. The intervention led by the United States destroyed the Taliban's organizational command and eliminated their leadership.

Taliban fighters mixed with the population or moved with refugees to neighboring Pakistan. According to a book written by a senior member of the Taliban, Abdul Hai Mutman, in 2016, only in May 2002, their supreme leader, mulah Muhammad Omar, was able to collect some senior aides and establish a leadership council to direct resistance against the United States and its allies.

The members of that council were Mulah Akhtari Muhhammad Usman, Mullah Abdul Lateef Mansur, Mullah Akhmmad Mansur, Mullah Dadullah Khand, Mulah Jalaluddin Haqqani, Mulah Abdul Kabeer, Mullah Hamdullah Nani, Muhahmman Hham Hasmeer Khan Mutaki.

Mullah Abdul Ghan Baradar and Mullah Obaidullah Akhund were named the goods (high top) first and second. The governing council serves more as a government cabinet that heads all the issues of the group, subjecting itself to approval by the supreme leader.

In February 2007, Obaidullah Akhund was arrested by Pakistani intelligence agencies and succeeded by Akhtar Muhhammad Mansur as deputy to Mullah Baradar. Pakistani intelligence arrested Baradari three years later, and Mansur succeeded him as the supreme deputy and head of the governing council.

After the Taliban announced the death of Müllah Omar in 2015, Mansur became supreme leader of the Taliban and appointed two deputy Shaikh Hibatullah Akhundzada, the current emir of the Taliban, and Mullah Sirajuddin Haqani ) head of the Haqani network.

After Mansure's murder of an American attack with fear in May 2016 in Pakistan, Shaikh Akhundzada succeeded him and appointed Mullah Yaqoob Omari, son of his founder's emir, Mullah Umar, to serve as deputy alongside Haqqan.

When Baradari was released from a Pakistani prison in 2018, Akundzada made him a third deputy responsible for political affairs. This governing structure remains in place, with Shaikh Hibatullah Akhundzada serving as supreme leader, assisted by three deputy Muhawi Yaqoob Umari, Shaikh Sirauddin Haqqhan and Mulawi Abdul Ghan Baradar.

Taliban Burocracy

Muhammad Ahsa, an official of the Taliban aware of these issues, told the Voice of America that the Taliban have divided Afghanistan's 34 provinces into two administrative branches, south and southeast. South includes 14 provinces and falls under Umari's authority.

The southeast includes the remaining 20 provinces and is managed by Haqani. Each province is divided into eight areas, which, in turn, are divided into circles similar to those already existing. Mutman writes in his book that the Taliban were appointed provincial governors in 2005.

The governor, appointed by the Taliban for Kunari, Hayi Usman Turabi, announced at a large public rally last month that these commissions were now responsible for the province's leadership. Citizens were told they should contact the relevant commission to request any service they may need.

According to Mutmain, the first three Taliban commissions were military, economic and cultural, established in 2004. Afghan researcher Fazelminlah Qazizai says the largest and most significant Taliban commission is the military commission. The Taliban deputy chairman, Mullah Yaqoob Umari, heads that commission with three deputy Maulawi Sadar Ibrahim, Maulawi Abul Kayum Zakir and Charles Fasyuddin. All three are top military commanders. Fasyuddin is the top commander for the nine northern provinces and is of ethnic Tajik affiliation.

Qazizai says the other most important commission is the economic one, which, like the military commission, deals with drug smuggling, an important source of income for Taliban. The intelligence commission is smaller, but is also considered important. This commission deals with the technology of fears and other modern weapons.

According to Ahsa, the media and culture commission lacks the large budget the intelligence commission has or the large organisational structure that the military commission has, but is also considered vital.

The political commission, meanwhile, is currently the most important, due to its daily interaction with international media. The commission operates under Baradari and has several senior leaders, including Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai, Suhail Shaheen and Shaikh Shahabuddin Dalawar. / VOA