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Who is Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund?
On September 7, 2021, the Taliban announced the appointment of Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund as the interim prime minister of Afghanistan. The decision came after the militant group took control of the country, including the capital, Kabul on August 15, 2021.
Akhund, who has a history of being close to Taliban's powerful military establishment, belongs to the Zarai district of Kandahar province in Afghanistan.
The 71-year-old is said to be among those who conceived the idea of the Taliban movement. He also played a significant role in initiating diplomatic channels with countries including Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) during its first stint in power.
The Taliban leader did his early education in various seminaries of Afghanistan. However, he was unable to complete his education due to the Soviet-Afghan war of the 1980s. He was schooled to learn the strict Islamist ideology, known as Deobandism. After the Taliban was removed from Afghanistan in 2001, Akhund remained an influential figure, operating mostly from exile in Pakistan.
Mullah Akhund has been the chief of the Taliban's powerful decision-making body 'Rehbari Shura', better known as Quetta Shura or leadership council, for twenty years now.
He had served as foreign minister and deputy prime minister during the Taliban's previous government in Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001. His importance lies more in the development of the group’s religious identity.
The Taliban leader is considered a religious scholar and a conservative, whose beliefs include restrictions on women and the denial of civil rights for ethnic and religious minorities.
In fact, Akhund was the one who supervised the destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas in March 2001, and is still listed as a terrorist by the United Nations.
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