Neither Infidels Nor Islamic Countries Recognise Us, Says Taliban Leader

The Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada has said that apart from “infidels, even the Islamic countries” have not recognised the Taliban government.

Abdul Wahid Rayan, director of the Taliban-controlled Bakhtar News Agency, said on Twitter that Akhundzada discussed the Taliban’s recognition with the provincial directors of information and culture of the group about a week ago in Kandahar.

According to Rayan, Akhundzada has told Taliban officials, “The world's charter was to recognise the ruler of Kabul, but today, when the Islamic Emirate rules all over the country, along with the infidels, even Islamic countries do not recognise it [Taliban government]."

The international community has not recognised the Taliban government due to gender and ethnic discrimination, human rights violations, and terror groups’ activities in Afghanistan.

The Taliban leader has stressed that some people, who he has not named, sacrifice everything for democracy, but has urged the Taliban not to abide to what he has called “pressure of the West”.

The Taliban leader has also said that “the United States and the United Nations have taken the world hostage” and elaborated that “the world can’t act without their orders”.

In what the director of Bakhtar News Agency has attributed to Akhundzada, the Taliban leader has emphasised that the group should consider Sharia in their "engagements". Although the issue of engagement has not been clarified, it seems that the Taliban leader meant engagement with the international community.

The Taliban leader has also pointed to the group’s members and said that they must pursue their goals so as not to suffer the fate of the Mujahideen after the victory over the Soviet Union forces in the 1980s. He emphasised that Taliban members should not engage in forbidden actions and must reign over Afghanistan according to Quran and Sunnah.

Akhundzada also added that the Taliban must hire people based on professionalism rather than friendship and stressed that the group’s members must not use their power for their personal gains.

The Taliban leader has asked the group members “to write the history of Jihad against the British, Soviets, and the United States for future generations in Afghanistan”, because according to Akhundzada their belief and faith would strengthen by following the history.

The Taliban leader has also asked the group’s members not to use “foreign” terms. Earlier, the Taliban Ministry of Higher Education had listed a number of Persian words as foreign terms and ordered a ban against using them.