Talk:Leadership Council of Afghanistan

Update article to reflect Taliban takeover

The Quetta Shura essentially no longer exists. It has no reason to. The Afghan Taliban has a Shura council that will likely be based either in Kandahar or Kabul, but it is no longer a government in exile. There should either be a completely new article for the Taliban Shura council, or this article should be substantially rewritten.--UshankaCzar (talk) 00:32, 24 August 2021 (UTC)

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Reversion to Quetta Shura

I believe this page needs to be reverted back to Quetta Shura. There is no statement, announcement, or law that has been attributed or signed by the Leadership Council after 31 August 2021 (https://www.alemarahenglish.af/three-day-meeting-of-the-leadership-council-of-islamic-emirate-under-chairmanship-of-esteemed-amir-ul-mumineen-held-in-kandahar/) from its main website alemarahenglish.af or their spokesman’s twitter account @Zabehulah_M33 since 7 October 2021.

It was reported by a source in the Taliban that it’s Leadership Council would be appointed the new cabinet (https://www.voanews.com/amp/us-afghanistan-troop-withdrawal_taliban-close-formation-cabinet-announcement-new-government/6210116.html)

The secretive shura that has been said to hold real power according to al-Jazeera and the Hindustan Times (https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2021/9/23/how-deep-are-divisions-among-the-taliban, https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/taliban-cabinet-has-no-actual-power-and-that-s-why-they-are-fighting-report-101632412929817.html, https://www.eastasiaforum.org/2022/09/03/taliban-decisions-reflect-internal-disagreement/), The body is the Ulema Council of Kandahar and Akhundzada’s advisors hold along with or hold final power on all decisions (https://eeradicalization.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Taliban-Report-by-Ajmal-Souhail-final.pdf, https://da.azadiradio.com/a/31648812.html, https://www.jomhornews.com/ps/news/146645/). Jasper Chu (talk) 20:25, 21 December 2022 (UTC)

@Jasper Chu: It was reported by a source in the Taliban that it’s Leadership Council would be appointed the new cabinet I'm not seeing that. It only says that all members of the Leadership Council would have a Cabinet post, not that the Cabinet would replace the Leadership Council. I believe sources that simply say "shura" are referring to the Leadership Council, which is a translation of Rahbari Shura. Your European Eye on Radicalization source says Within the IE, the supreme body is the Quetta Shura led by Sheikh Haibatullah Akhundzada. and your Azadi Radio source says of the Kandahar Ulema Council These sources, who are not allowed to talk to the media independently, say that this council will work to solve problems only at the local level of Kandahar. The Jomhor News source says the same thing, that the Ulema Council is only for local issues. None of these sources appear to support the idea that the Leadership Council has been dissolved or that there are any new national leadership bodies. I also find it implausible that the Leadership Council would have been dissolved since so much power is concentrated there, and they are trying to avoid causing an internal power struggle. I'm certainly open to finding whatever the correct answer is, but I'm just not seeing any new information in the sources you've laid out here. 25stargeneral (talk) 06:03, 28 January 2023 (UTC)

The thing is, since the cabinet was appointed, there has been no statement, decree or announcement attributed or issued by the Leadership Council since. The last statement mentioning the Leadership Council by name was https://www.alemarahenglish.af/three-day-meeting-of-the-leadership-council-of-islamic-emirate-under-chairmanship-of-esteemed-amir-ul-mumineen-held-in-kandahar/. The 24 member council advising Akhundzada is actually the Kandahar Ulema Council as the report on the membership by Ajmal Sohail and Acadia Radio line up perfectly Jasper Chu (talk) 07:01, 28 January 2023 (UTC)

But your sources directly say that council is only for local issues. What makes you think it has a bigger role? 25stargeneral (talk) 07:14, 28 January 2023 (UTC)

@Jasper Chu: Did you ever find more information on this? I have a suspicion that you're right, but we have to find sources to back it up and I'm having trouble with that. 25stargeneral (talk) 01:21, 20 February 2023 (UTC)

Hey, I’m really sorry for getting back to you so late about this, but I came across information from amu.tv that Akhundzada is indeed informed by a 24-man council based out of Kandahar which is the number that corresponds to the membership of the Kandahar Ulema Council (https://amu.tv/en/33760/). There is also an article from the Brookings Institution which confirms that the Rahbari Shura is considered being revived, but has not yet been done so as Akhundzada is unwilling to give up power (https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2023/02/03/afghanistan-in-2023-taliban-internal-power-struggles-and-militancy/amp/). The latter shows the Rahbari Shura is no longer active as an institution since the Taliban’s August 2021 takeover of Afghanistan. Jasper Chu (talk) 22:52, 25 March 2023 (UTC)

It says in this report that Akhundzada receives his religious advice from Kandahar’s Ulema Council or Council of Scholars even though it’s meant for local issues (https://www.afghanistan-analysts.org/en/reports/rights-freedom/the-ban-on-older-girls-education-taleban-conservatives-ascendant-and-a-leadership-in-disarray/), in another report by amu.tv Akhundzada also has a 24 person advisory council similar to the report made by Ajmal Sohail (https://amu.tv/en/33760/). There also isn’t really a need for additional sources as both Akhundzada’s advisory council and the Kandahar Ulema Council. In Ajmal Sohail’s report mentions individuals like Mawlawi Habibullah Agha, Mawlawi Akhtar Zafarani, and Mawlawi Abdul Hadi Sahib which directly correspond with what’s mentioned on the list presented here (https://www.jomhornews.com/ps/news/146645/) when translated. My apologies but it’s the best I can do. Jasper Chu (talk) 16:11, 20 February 2023 (UTC)

Here is the translated list of members if this makes things easier:

Maulvi Habibullah Algha Sahib

Maulvi Akhtar Muhammad Sahib

Maulvi Muhammad Mujahid Sahib

Maulvi Muhammad Daud Anna Sahib

Maulvi Abdul Hadi Sahib

Maulvi Abdul Hadi Sahib

Maulvi Muhammad Rasool Sahib

Maulvi Mirhamza Agha Sahib

Maulvi Abdul Hakim Sahib

Maulvi Saeed Ahmed Sahib

Sheikh Maulvi Abdul Rahim Sahib

Maulvi Abdul Hadi Sahib

Maulvi Muhammad Sahib

Alhaj Mulla Karimullah laughed

Al-Haj Mullah Hikmatullah laughed

Amir Mullah Sharin 
Shaulikon

Alhaji Maulvi Abdul Hadi Sahib

Alhaji Mufti Hussain Ahmad Sahib

Alhaji Maulvi Abdul Nafee Sahib Jasper Chu (talk) 16:14, 20 February 2023 (UTC)

If you go under to the third paragraph under the subheading “What happened?” in the article by the Afghan Analysts Network “The Ban on Older Girls’ Education: Taleban conservatives ascendant and a leadership in disarray”, it’ll say that that Kandahar Ulema Council already advises Akhundzada on key issues Jasper Chu (talk) 16:22, 20 February 2023 (UTC)

@Jasper Chu: I found evidence that the supreme leader has not been using the leadership council at all lately, and is relying on the Kandahar council instead as you say. From Oxford Analytica's Expert Briefing in March 2023: "[Akhundzada] has not convened the Taliban's Leadership Council (a 'politburo' of top leaders and commanders) for several months. Instead, he relies on the narrower Kandahar Council of Clerics for legal advice." I have begun updating the articles cautiously to reflect this limited available information. 25stargeneral (talk) 22:01, 2 May 2023 (UTC)

Awesome. Thanks so much. Jasper Chu (talk) 01:12, 3 May 2023 (UTC)

Also, I’ve tried getting my hands on that source you used, you don’t mind if you could send me the .pdf version of the Expert Briefing? I’ve been trying to get a better idea of the power struggle in the Taliban Jasper Chu (talk) 01:24, 3 May 2023 (UTC)

I only have access to the preview on Google Scholar which is where that quote comes from. I'm trying to get access to the full document. 25stargeneral (talk) 03:00, 3 May 2023 (UTC)