Taliban Intelligence Leadership Dispute Intensifies, Reports AGT

The Afghanistan Green Trend (AGT), headed by Amrullah Saleh, has reported escalating tensions within the Taliban due to recent reshuffles in the provincial intelligence leadership.

According to AGT, the past two months have seen significant discord, particularly between the Kandahari Taliban and the Haqqani network factions.

On Saturday, May 25, AGT’s intelligence unit disclosed that the Taliban’s General Directorate of Intelligence (GDI) is sharply divided. Mullah Wasiq, the GDI head, supported by Taliban leader Mullah Hibatullah, and the Haqqani network are the main contenders. The position of Kabul province’s intelligence head, currently held by a Mullah Wasiq ally, is a focal point of the dispute.

Further disruptions occurred when Abdullah Ghaznawi, Wasiq’s son-in-law and Chief of Staff of GDI chief, was ousted following criticisms from the Haqqani network. In contrast, Shamsullah, Wasiq’s grandson, remains the head of foreign relations within Taliban intelligence. The Haqqani network’s preferred candidate, Tajmir Jawad, serves as the first deputy head of the intelligence agency.

Relations between Wasiq and Tajmir Jawad are reportedly strained, with Mullah Hibatullah having met with Tajmir only once. AGT claims Tajmir Jawad is actively seeking to replace the current Kabul intelligence head. Although recent disagreements led to armed confrontations, intervention by Kandahar authorities helped to quell the clashes.