KABUL, Afghanistan: Afghan Taliban supreme leader Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhundzada has warned that internal divisions within the group could bring down its government in Afghanistan, according to a leaked audio recording that has fuelled rumours of tensions at the top of the Taliban leadership.
Deepening internal divisions are troubling Afghanistan’s Taliban leadership, raising questions about unity within the group that returned to power after the withdrawal of US forces in August 2021.
The threat facing the Taliban is not external but internal, centred on rival visions for how Afghanistan should be governed and where real power should reside, according to a year-long investigation by the BBC.
In a leaked audio recording cited by BBC Urdu, Taliban supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada is heard warning that internal divisions could bring down the regime in Afghanistan.
“This division could lead to the end of the Islamic Emirate,” he says in the speech, delivered in January 2025 at a religious seminary in Kandahar in the presence of Taliban members, according to BBC Urdu.
The recording fuelled speculation about rifts among senior Taliban leaders, rumours the group has consistently denied.
Two camps at the top
Two opposite camps have emerged at the highest level of the Taliban leadership, the BBC Afghan Service stated following more than 100 interviews with current and former Taliban members, local sources, analysts, experts and former diplomats.
According to the report, one group is loyal to Akhundzada and operates from Kandahar. It favours a rigid Islamic Emirate, largely cut off from the outside world, with clerics exercising tight control over all aspects of society.
The second group is based in Kabul and includes powerful ministers, senior militants and influential religious figures. It supports Islamic governance alongside engagement with the international community to stabilise the economy and allow girls access to education, according to the BBC Urdu report.
Girls in Afghanistan are currently barred from studying beyond primary school.
One internal source, cited by BBC Urdu, described the divide as “the Kandahar House versus the Kabul Group”.
Power concentrated in Kandahar
Akhundzada was appointed Taliban leader in 2016, reportedly because of his ability to build consensus.
He had no military background and relied on deputies, including Sirajuddin Haqqani and Yaqoob Mujahid, the son of Taliban founder Mullah Omar.
That balance shifted after the Taliban seized power. Internal sources, cited by BBC Urdu, say Akhundzada sidelined his deputies by assigning them ministerial roles, while consolidating authority in Kandahar.
Abdul Ghani Baradar, a Taliban co-founder and chief negotiator with the United States, was named deputy prime minister, despite expectations he would become prime minister.
Akhundzada remained in Kandahar and surrounded himself with loyal hardliners, placing allies in charge of security, the economy and religious affairs. Orders increasingly bypassed Kabul-based ministers.
A former Taliban member, cited by the BBC, said that Akhundzada built a powerful inner circle and expanded his influence after taking power.
Tensions over women and governance
Restrictions on women’s education and employment have become a major source of tension, according to the BBC Urdu report.
A UN Security Council monitoring team reported in December that such policies were straining relations within the Taliban leadership.
Internal sources, cited by BBC, said that Akhundzada has grown increasingly hardline in his religious views. Two Taliban officials told the BBC he approved his son’s decision to carry out a suicide bombing in 2017.
A current Taliban official said Akhundzada often justifies decisions by saying he is “answerable to Allah”.
Access to the leader has also tightened. Ministers now reportedly wait weeks for meetings and are told to travel to Kandahar only if formally invited.
Internet shutdown sparks confrontation
The simmering rivalry erupted into open confrontation last September, when Akhundzada ordered a nationwide shutdown of internet and phone services.
Three days later, connectivity was restored without explanation. Taliban insiders told the BBC the Kabul group had defied the order and reinstated services.
“It was nothing short of mutiny,” one Taliban source said.
The internet shutdown stunned the movement. Analysts say obedience to the supreme leader is deeply ingrained within the Taliban, making open defiance extremely rare.
According to sources, cited by BBC, senior Kabul-based leaders — including Baradar, Haqqani and Yaqoob Mujahid — pressed Prime Minister Mullah Hassan Akhund to reverse the order, arguing the shutdown threatened government functioning and commerce.
The strategy succeeded, and services were restored.
Kabul group seeks pragmatism
Analysts say the Kabul group consists of figures “who have seen the world” and believe Afghanistan cannot survive in isolation.
They are described as pragmatic rather than moderate. Baradar is seen as their informal leader.
Some members have softened their public image and embraced media and social platforms.
Yaqoob Mujahid is popular among younger supporters, while Sirajuddin Haqqani has made rare public appearances since the Taliban takeover.
Haqqani, once one of the most wanted militants with a $10 million US bounty, appeared openly at official events in Kabul. The FBI later quietly removed the bounty.
Despite this, analysts say an outright challenge to Akhundzada remains unlikely.
“Obedience to Akhundzada is considered obligatory,” a former Taliban member told the BBC.
Taliban denies divisions
Meanwhile, Taliban chief spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid has firmly rejected claims of internal division.
Earlier this month, Mujahid said unity was essential for Afghanistan and that Islam forbids division.
He acknowledged differing opinions within the leadership but described them as “like disagreements within a family”.
Those differences surfaced publicly in December, when Haqqani warned in a speech that leaders who forget the people’s trust risk losing legitimacy.
On the same day, Higher Education Minister Nida Mohammad Nadim, a known Akhundzada loyalist, said true Islamic governance requires one leader whose orders must be followed by all.
