Since the Taliban captured power in August 2021, Akhundzada has issued dozens of edicts curbing women and girls’ access to education, workplaces, and public life and spaces at large, which the Haqqani group has opposed as it has stood in the way of the Taliban regime gaining diplomatic recognition.

THERE are concerning reports of possible divisions within the Afghan Taliban, particularly between the ideological old guard based in Kandahar, and the more pragmatic members of the hard-line movement.

Arrest of Peter and Barbie Reynolds is ‘political move’ in factional rebellion over women’s rights, sources say