Taliban Suspends 500 Kindergarten Employees, Most Women

Rahmatullah Nabil, who published a Twitter thread on Monday with a video from a Taliban seminary in which the group’s flag is displayed, emphasized that the man, Mullah Hamdullah, is the same person who spoke to the people on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr on May 1, 2022, and appeared as the supreme Taliban leader at the Hakimiyah seminary in Kandahar on October 30, 2021.

According to the former spy chief of Afghanistan, the same person may appear in the Taliban Ulema Assembly, a grand assembly that is scheduled to take place in Kabul, as Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada. Only one old photo of the Taliban supreme leader has been released so far, but the group has not been able to prove that he is alive, after more than 10 months in power in Afghanistan.

The Taliban occasionally issue decrees in the name of their supreme leader. In the first months after the fall of Kabul on August 15, 2021, the Taliban's major policies and appointment of senior government officials, including the group’s cabinet members, were attributed to decrees by Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, but later the group attributed minor issues such as devotion of funding for a road to decrees by the Taliban leader.

Last week, Taliban-controlled media and news agencies reported that about 30 businessmen had met with Mullah Hibatullah in Kandahar. A few photos were published of this meeting; however, the Taliban leader was not visible in any one. Pictures released by the Taliban of the alleged meeting with their leader showed a row of men sitting in a relatively luxurious room, without their leader in the frame. The next day, the same men discussed, what they called their meeting with Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, with Amir Khan Mottaqi, the Taliban's acting foreign minister.

Bakhtar News Agency and Afghan National Television, both controlled by the Taliban, then released videos of conversations with a number of men who claimed to have met with Mullah Hibatullah.

The Taliban also released a video showing Sirajuddin Haqqani, the group's acting interior minister, visiting the quake-hit areas of Paktika and attending a telephone call. The Taliban claim that the conversation of Haqqani took place with Mullah Hibatullah.

There was only one blurry image of Mullah Omar, the first Taliban leader when he was alive, which was a screenshot of a video of a ceremony in Kandahar.
Unlike now, during their reign of Afghanistan in the 1990s, the Taliban did not allow the publishing of photos and videos that show the faces of living beings. But it was in 2015 and after confirming the news of their leader's death, the Taliban introduced Mullah Akhtar Mansour as their leader and published a photo of him.

After Mullah Akhtar Mansour was killed on his way back to Pakistan from Iran, a man named Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada was introduced as the new leader of the Taliban, who has not been seen since, except for in a portrait.

Foreign intelligence agencies have ruled out the possibility of Akhundzada being alive, but the Taliban continue to insist that he is alive and in charge of the group's affairs, without publishing a photo or video of him.

The rights watchdog called on the Taliban to end the attacks against civilians, and to ensure justice and accountability as the ruling group in Afghanistan.

Amnesty International has called upon both the parties in the conflict to abide by the laws of war and to refrain from harming civilians. It also called on the international community not to ignore the escalation of human rights abuses in Afghanistan, but instead to press for accountability.

The group has expressed concern about the Taliban blocking the transport route and the closure of telecommunications networks in Balkhab, stating that blocking the transport route and essential needs of the people is a war crime.

According to the organization, the free flow of information from the conflict zone should be respected.

The concerns come as the Taliban attacked a disgruntled Hazara commander in the Balkhab district of Sar-e-Pul province, blocking the district's roads and disrupting telecommunications networks.

Five days have passed since the Taliban invaded Balkhab, but details of the war have not been released due to a lack of communication.

The Taliban have reportedly shot dead a number of civilians since capturing the center of Balkhab district. According to the latest reports, the group's fighters shot dead seven of Mawlawi Mahdi's men who had surrendered on Sunday in the Glorz area near Darah Sof district.

According to Afghanistan International's ground sources, the clashes between invading Taliban and Mawlawi Mahdi’s forces in Balkhab district have ended with around 8,000 Taliban forces having been relocated to the district.

After taking over the district center, the Taliban forces have started house-to-house search operations of the residents.

Earlier, on Saturday, other media reports revealed that the Taliban had shot dead seven civilians in Balkhab district.

But local sources, who spoke to Afghanistan International on the condition of anonymity fearing the Taliban’s retaliation, said that on Saturday Taliban fighters shot dead three civilians in the Tarkhuj area of Bazaar-e-Naw and five others in the Jah Mirak area near Qom Kotal of Balkhab district.

Three days after the fierce fighting in Balkhab, the clashes have now ended, and Mawlawi Mahdi's men have fled the area.

According to Afghanistan International's sources, telephone services in the district center have been cut off and more civilians are likely to be killed by the Taliban.

Taliban officials have not yet commented on the killing of civilians in Balkhab.

The Taliban sent thousands of troops to Balkhab district in Sar-e-Pul province late last week to crack down on Mawlawi Mahdi, the group’s only Hazara commander.

Mahdi was the only Hazara Taliban commander who briefly served as the Taliban’s intelligence chief in Bamiyan after the group took control of Afghanistan on August 15, 2021. After being removed from this position in January 2022, he went to his hometown in Balkhab district and parted with the Taliban due to the absence of Hazaras and Shiites in the Taliban government.

The bank has stressed that auction winners should settle their accounts by the end of Saturday.

Taliban officials at the Central Bank of Afghanistan have auctioned off millions of dollars over the past 10 months to control the value of the Afghanistan currency against the US Dollar.

The Central Bank of Afghanistan has announced that the current exchange rate of 1 US Dollar is equivalent to 80 Afghanis.

Sources told Afghanistan International on the condition of anonymity that the Taliban entered the old bazaar of Balkhab district, where the fight rages on.

The old bazaar is located near Qom Kotal and both are part of Balkhab district of Sar-e-Pul province.

Some sources close to Mawlawi Mahdi have claimed that the Taliban forces are now under siege by the local commander. However, there has been no official account from the Taliban regarding the clashes in this northern district even after three days.

Also, there is no official figure for the casualties of the Balkhab battle. Local sources say that Taliban helicopters have been hovering over Balkhab district since Friday, targeting forces affiliated with Mawlawi Mahdi.

Meanwhile, sources told Afghanistan International that the two sides are currently engaged in regrouping their forces as the war intensifies.

Local sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity in Bamiyan province said that the Taliban dispatched a group of fighters from the province to Sar-e-Pul. Other sources aware of the development in Sar-e- Pol province confirmed that about 60 Uzbek fighters have recently joined the Balkhab battle to support Mawlawi Mahdi’s forces. Also, in recent days, the Taliban has sent military convoys from the northern provinces to suppress Mawlawi Mahdi in Balkhab district of Sar-e-Pul province.

Mawlawi Mahdi was the sole Hazara commander of the Taliban who served the group as Bamiyan’s provincial intelligence director shortly after the group took over Afghanistan following the collapse of Kabul on August 15, 2021. In January 2022, the Taliban removed Mahdi from Bamiyan, who moved to his hometown of Balkhab district in Sar-e-Pul province and parted with the group.

He later expressed dissatisfaction with the group for "the absence of Hazaras and Shiite participation in the Taliban government”.