KABUL: Afghanistan’s Interior Minister, Sirajuddin Haqqani has openly attacked the unnamed Taliban leaders who were presumably the cause of his dissatisfaction for taking credit for the victory and return to power in Afghanistan, thus creating even larger rifts in the already divided government.
The internal quarrels among Taliban rulers have deepened as the prominent figures, especially the Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani, have been criticizing each other in public. This recent situation is the highest point of tension among the Taliban rulers.
According to Afghan media reports, Haqqani was in Paktika province when he expressed these thoughts as he met with the tribal leaders and talked to the public.
While addressing the public, the interior minister talked about the importance of unity among the people of Afghanistan and made the poor and rich alike a good deal of more than just one call when stating that citizens must consider national interests marrying them off for personal ambitions. Reiterating the unity seen during Afghanistan’s jihadist period he proclaimed that the country’s development calls for a strong commitment to God and the land.
Nevertheless, it was through a covert but pointed criticism that Haqqani lashed out at certain unnamed leaders in the Taliban who he accused of excessively taking credit for the group’s victory and rise. He did not direct anyone but said that some people had “played no role in the war” but were now claiming victory and return to power as well.
Haqqani “Ethically speaking, those claims can do nothing but diminish the sacrifices and the struggle that finally got us the victory,” Haqqani warned. “The once silent ones, who were at the very spot of the threat and the loathsome activity and thus could not even come out of their houses, now enjoy notoriety and power. Their existence must not be a reason to forget the blood and sweat of our warriors.”
Haqqani’s remarks seem to be aimed at the people around Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, the Taliban’s supreme leader, thus pointing to the fact of rule and power being one of the reasons for the rift inside the group. At the same time, the criticism comes as the already strained relations between the Taliban and Pakistan are getting worse, which in turn feeds the inner conflicts.
Haqqani told other leaders to keep their own greatness claims down to a level that does not harm the Taliban’s image and the credibility of their cause. “We have to give full credit to those who have been there with us since the beginning,” he stressed.
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The recent exchanges of words point to the fact that the power and influence struggle within the Taliban core is still on going, as the various groups are trying to find out what part they are to play in the new government. The divergence of opinion also reveals the problems that the Taliban have to deal with now that they are trying to solidify their control over Afghanistan while at the same time being divided internally and facing external pressures.
