Hibatullah Akhundzada

Hibatullah Akhundzada (born October 19/20, 1967?, Kandahār?, Afghanistan) is the leader (Pashto: mashar; Dari: rahbar) of the Taliban (2016– ) and the de facto leader of Afghanistan (2021– ). Also called amīr al-muʾminīn (Arabic: “leader of the faithful”), he has been a member of the Taliban since the early 1990s. Regarded as widely knowledgeable in Islamic jurisprudence, he is believed to exercise authority largely from Kandahār. Under his leadership the Taliban has established a highly centralized system of religious rule and imposed extensive restrictions on the rights and activities of women and girls. Such restrictions have drawn widespread international criticism. In 2025 the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for him on charges of gender-based persecution as a “crime against humanity.” Akhundzada has reportedly been the target of multiple assassination attempts, and he rarely appears in public.

Early life

While Akhundzada’s exact date of birth is unknown, according to the ICC, he was born on October 19 or 20, 1967. Reportedly, he was born to a religious family that belonged to a Pashtun tribe, and he grew up in Kandahār, Afghanistan. His father, Mohammad Akhund, was an imam at a local mosque. It is believed that his family moved to Quetta, in Pakistan’s Balochistan province, following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan (1979). He is also believed to have furthered his religious studies in seminaries around Quetta and Kuchlak in Balochistan. During this period he maintained ties with some figures in the mujahideen.

Rise within the Taliban

Although several reports note that Akhundzada was involved in the anti-Soviet resistance during the 1980s, it is unclear whether he served in a military capacity. According to a BBC profile of Akhundzada published in 2016, he was known primarily for his religious leadership rather than military experience.

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Akhundzada joined the Taliban in 1994. The ultraconservative religio-political movement emerged that year amid the civil war that followed the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan in 1989 and the overthrow of the communist government in 1992 (see Afghan War). It rapidly captured territory following a series of military victories against rival militias. Akhundzada’s rise within the Taliban was gradual. In the 1990s he served in the Taliban’s judicial system, including on its Supreme Court, in positions that required substantial knowledge of Islamic law. During this decade he also served in the Ministry of Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice and in Taliban military courts. He also gained recognition within the Taliban for his religious views and knowledge of Islamic jurisprudence.

In the wake of the Taliban’s defeat and ouster in 2001 during the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan (see Afghanistan War), Akhundzada reportedly fled to Pakistan along with other top leaders of the Taliban. During this time Akhundzada was active in several madrasahs and guided the Taliban in religious and judicial matters. He issued several fatwas (formal rulings on a point of Islamic law) that provided a religious basis for the Taliban’s insurgency against foreign forces and the U.S.-backed Afghan government. He was a close aide to both Mohammad Omar, a founder of the Taliban who led the group until his death in 2013, and Akhtar Mansour, who succeeded Omar as the Taliban’s leader in 2015.

Leader of the Taliban

Akhundzada succeeded Mansour, who was killed in a U.S. drone strike (see Drone Warfare in the 21st Century) in 2016, to become the third leader of the Taliban and was given the title amīr al-muʾminīn (Arabic: “leader of the faithful”). Influential figures within the Taliban were appointed as his aides, including Sirajuddin Haqqani, the leader of the Haqqani network (a powerful Pashtun militia), and Mohammad Yaqoob, the son of Mohammad Omar. He commanded great respect within the Taliban because he was regarded as having extensive knowledge of Islamic law. In 2016 al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri endorsed Akhundzada’s appointment.

Akhundzada has condemned the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 and called the presence of foreign troops in the country an “occupation.” He used the characterization to argue that armed resistance against foreign forces was legitimate. He has also issued several fatwas calling for jihad against foreign troops and has justified suicide bombings as a Taliban military tactic. However, it was during his tenure that the Taliban announced a ceasefire with the U.S.-backed Afghan government in the Afghanistan War in 2018 for the first time since 2001. The following year the Taliban, under Akhundzada, designated Abdul Ghani Baradar, one of the founders of the movement, to lead peace negotiations with the U.S. in Doha to secure the withdrawal of foreign troops from the country. Negotiations with the U.S. culminated in an agreement, informally known as the Doha Agreement, in 2020, which provided for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan. Amid the withdrawal of U.S. and other foreign troops, the Taliban launched a lightning offensive across the country against the Afghan government led by Pres. Ashraf Ghani. The Taliban rapidly captured provinces and took control of key cities. By mid-August 2021 the Afghan government had collapsed, and the Taliban returned to power.

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De facto leader of Afghanistan

Following the Taliban’s return to power, Akhundzada became de facto ruler of Afghanistan. In 2025 Russia became the first country to formally recognize the Taliban government. Several other countries, including China, Iran, and Qatar, continue to maintain diplomatic missions in the country. Under Akhundzada’s leadership the Taliban took control of a country that had been devastated by decades of war and that was home to about 40 million people. The Taliban faced several challenges, including managing millions of internally displaced people, extremely high levels of poverty and hunger, and poor economic conditions. Taliban authorities also faced security challenges on several fronts, particularly from the Islamic State–Khorasan Province (ISKP; a branch of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria [ISIS] operating in Afghanistan). The Taliban had to deal with multiple ISKP attacks, including several suicide bombings that killed hundreds of people.

Akhundzada reportedly made statements reaffirming the Taliban’s intention to govern according to its interpretation of sharia (Islamic law) throughout the country. He also approved rules that restricted women’s and girls’ access to public life, including restrictions on women’s education, employment, and freedom of movement. These measures attracted widespread international condemnation, with several countries and the United Nations criticizing the Taliban’s treatment of women. Afghan women and human rights activists have described the Taliban’s laws on women and girls as “gender apartheid,” which organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have argued should be recognized as a crime under international law.