Will Taliban be able to resolve internal differences in Kandahar meeting?

 

A large number of Taliban leaders, including Deputy Prime Minister Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, Defense Minister Maulvi Muhammad Yaqub Mujahid, Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani and Deputy Defense Minister Mullah Fazal Mazloom, have traveled to Kandahar.

 The forum was held in the presence of the movement's leader, Mullah Habibullah Akhundzada, to discuss ways to resolve internal disputes and gain international legal status.

Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid released details at the end of the three-day meeting in Kandahar, saying his emir had issued instructions to maintain order.  The meeting assigned responsibilities for economic improvement to the Economic Commission headed by Mullah Bardar.

 Kandahar is the traditional capital of the Taliban, and the movement's leader, whose death is rumored, has not yet traveled to Kabul.  Taliban media and spokespersons occasionally reported that Mullah Hibatullah had traveled to neighboring Kandahar provinces but did not provide any evidence of his presence.

Mullah Mohammad Omar, the founder of the Taliban movement, was a resident of Khakriz City, Kandahar Province, and most of his associates and members of the Taliban's leadership council are Kandahar Pashtuns.