Taliban officials announced that the movement's supreme leader, Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, who has not appeared in any official capacity since his appointment in 2016, participated in an event on Saturday evening in Kandahar, southern Afghanistan. The Taliban government stated in a message on Sunday that "Hibatullah Akhundzada appeared at a large gathering at the famous Dar al-Uloom al-Hakimiya school and spoke for ten minutes to the brave soldiers and students," as heard in an audio recording circulated by Afghan officials' accounts.
In this audio recording, Mullah Akhundzada's voice is heard indistinctly reciting prayers. A local source mentioned that Mullah Akhundzada arrived at the Quranic school in Kandahar in a convoy of two cars under very heavy security, and no photographs were allowed. Since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, a diverse group of individuals including fighters and leaders has entered the capital, Kabul, except for the movement's leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, whose whereabouts remained a subject of speculation. Taliban spokesman Bilal Karimi revealed that Hibatullah Akhundzada is in Afghanistan, specifically in Kandahar, and indicated that he would appear publicly soon.
Akhundzada has led the Taliban since 2016 when he transformed from an obscure figure to a leader responsible for overseeing the movement. After taking leadership, Akhundzada assigned himself the difficult task of uniting the movement that had briefly fragmented amid a bitter power struggle. Little is known about Akhundzada's daily tasks, as his public presence has mainly been limited to issuing annual messages during festivals. Aside from a single image released by the Taliban, the supreme leader has never appeared publicly, and his whereabouts remain largely unknown.
