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No Public Appearance And 1 Photograph: The Low Profile Taliban Chief

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Apart from a single photograph, Hibatullah Akhundzada has never made a public appearance
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Kabul:
In the days since taking power in Afghanistan, a wide range of Taliban figures have entered Kabul -- hardened commandos, armed madrassa students and greying leaders back from years of exile.
There has been one major exception -- the group's supreme leader.
Hibatullah Akhundzada -- the so-called commander of the faithful -- has shepherded the Taliban as its chief since 2016 when snatched from relative obscurity to oversee a movement in crisis.
After taking the insurgency's reins, the cleric was tasked with the mammoth challenge of unifying a jihadist movement that briefly fractured during a bitter power struggle.
The infighting came as the group was hit with successive blows -- the assassination of Akhundzada's predecessor and the revelation that its leaders had hidden the death of Taliban founder Mullah Omar.
Little is still known about Akhundzada's day-to-day role, with his public profile largely limited to the release of annual messages during Islamic holidays.
Apart from a single photograph released by the Taliban, the leader has never made a public appearance and his whereabouts remain largely unknown.
Since taking control of Kabul in mid-August, the group has remained tight-lipped about Akhundzada's movements.
"You will see him soon, God willing," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told reporters this week when asked about Akhundzada's whereabouts.
The ongoing silence comes as the heads of various Taliban factions have openly preached in Kabul's mosques, met with opposition figures, and even chatted with Afghan cricket officials in recent days.
The secret history
The Taliban have a long history of keeping their top leader in the shadows.
The group's enigmatic founder Mullah Mohammad Omar was notorious for his hermit ways and rarely travelled to Kabul when the group was in power in the 1990s.
Instead, Omar stayed largely out of sight in his compound in Kandahar, reluctant even to meet visiting delegations.
Still, his word was rule and no singular figure has emerged to command the movement with the same respect.
Laurel Miller -- the head of the Asia programme at the International Crisis Group -- said Akhundzada "appears to have adopted a reclusive style similar" to that of Omar.
The secrecy might also be fuelled by security reasons, Miller added, citing the assassination of his predecessor Mullah Akhtar Mansour by a US drone strike.
"A Taliban spokesman has indicated their leader will emerge soon, and he might have reasons to do that to quash suspicions of his demise," Miller told AFP.
"But it's also possible that after showing himself he would withdraw and exercise his authority in a remote fashion, as Mullah Omar did."
Akhundzada's absence follows years of rumours about his health, with chatter in Pakistan and Afghanistan suggesting he had contracted Covid or had been killed in a bombing.
There has never been much in the way to prove these rumours, but Akhundzada's secrecy comes at a sensitive time for the erstwhile insurgency.
There are myriad Taliban factions comprising groups from across Afghanistan, representing a vast array of constituents.
The revelation in 2015 that the Taliban leadership had for years hidden the death of Mullah Omar sparked a brief but bloody power struggle, with at least one major faction splitting from the group.
As the Taliban transition from fighting to governance, balancing the interests of their numerous factions will be crucial to consolidating power.
Any power vacuum would risk destabilising a movement that has managed to stay cohesive following decades of conflict, tens of thousands of foot soldiers killed, and top leaders assassinated or shipped off to the US prison in Guantanamo Bay.
Others suggest the group may just be biding its time until US-led forces make their final exit from Afghanistan in the coming days.
"The Taliban consider themselves in a state of jihad" as long as foreign troops are on Afghan soil and will likely keep their leader hidden until they leave, said Pakistan-based security analyst Imtiaz Gul.
"That's why the supreme leader is not surfacing."
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/no-public-appearance-and-1-photograph-the-low-profile-taliban-chief-hibatullah-akhundzada-2521576">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/no-public-appearance-and-1-photograph-the-low-profile-taliban-chief-hibatullah-akhundzada-2521576</a>

news world No Public Appearance And 1 Photograph: The Low Profile Taliban Chief

Apart from a single photograph, Hibatullah Akhundzada has never made a public appearance Kabul: In the days since taking power in Afgha...

2 Die In Japan After Shots From Suspended Moderna Vaccines: Government

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The men died this month within days of receiving their second Moderna doses, Japan said
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Tokyo:
Two people died after receiving Moderna COVID-19 vaccine shots that were among lots later suspended following the discovery of contaminants, Japan's health ministry said on Saturday.
The men in their 30s died this month within days of receiving their second Moderna doses, the ministry said in a release. Each had a shot from one of three manufacturing lots suspended on Thursday. The cause of the deaths is still being investigated.
Japan halted the use of 1.63 million Moderna doses shipped to 863 vaccination centres nationwide, more than a week after the domestic distributor, Takeda Pharmaceutical, received reports of contaminants in some vials.
The government and Moderna had said no safety or efficacy issues had been identified and the suspension was just a precaution.
The contaminant is believed to be metallic particles, Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported, citing health ministry sources.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/2-die-in-japan-after-shots-from-suspended-moderna-vaccines-government-2521533">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/2-die-in-japan-after-shots-from-suspended-moderna-vaccines-government-2521533</a>

news world 2 Die In Japan After Shots From Suspended Moderna Vaccines: Government

The men died this month within days of receiving their second Moderna doses, Japan said Tokyo: Two people died after receiving Moderna ...

Future Of Kabul Airport Subject Of Intense Negotiations

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Washington:
Who will ultimately run the airport in Kabul after US forces leave? That question -- a vital one for Afghanistan's new Taliban rulers but also for Western nations still hoping to evacuate everyone eligible -- is the subject of intense and complex talks.
Next week, on September 1, Hamid Karzai International Airport will be under the control of the hardline Islamists, who already on Friday claimed to have moved into certain areas of the military side of the facility.
"We are departing by August 31. Upon that date, we are delivering -- we're essentially giving the airport back to the Afghan people," State Department spokesman Ned Price said Friday, cutting off speculation about the possibility of it falling into international hands.
However, the Afghan government collapsed in the face of the Taliban advance on Kabul, and now the onetime insurgents are in power but still haven't even formed a government.
"Running an airport is not an uncomplicated piece of business," Price said. "I think that it is probably unreasonable to expect that there will be normal airport operations on September 1."
The idea that the airport could be temporarily closed was raised on Wednesday by his boss, Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
He said there had been "very active efforts" by countries in the region to see whether they could help keep it open "or, as necessary, reopening it if it closes for some period of time."
Blinken insisted that the fate of the airport was important to the Taliban, who did not want to find themselves once again heading a pariah regime, as they did from 1996 to 2001.
The Islamists are especially hoping to see humanitarian aid quickly flow into the country.
Role for Ankara?
But the airport is also important for Western countries who want to be able to get their citizens out of Afghanistan, as well as thousands of Afghan allies who cannot be evacuated in the US-led airlift before August 31.
Up until now, NATO has played a key role: the alliance's civilian personnel have taken care of air traffic control, fuel supplies and communications, while military contingents from Turkey, the United States, Britain and Azerbaijan were in charge of security.
With the full withdrawal of international forces rapidly approaching, it has long been thought that perhaps Turkey would step into the breach, maintaining responsibility for securing the perimeter of the airport.
The hope was that the Taliban would accept the presence of a small force from Turkey, a mainly Muslim nation that is also part of NATO.
But once they took power, the Taliban have repeatedly said they will not accept any foreign military presence in Afghanistan after August 31, and Turkish soldiers have begun to pull out.
However, negotiations have continued on the diplomatic front.
After the first talks on Friday between Turkish officials and the Taliban in Kabul, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan revealed the Taliban now want to oversee security at the airport, while offering Ankara the option of running its logistics.
"We will make a decision once calm prevails," Erdogan said, saying the suicide attack on Thursday at the gates of the airport showed how complex the mission was.
Beyond Turkey, the discussions on the future of the airport have included Qatar and private operators, while the United States has said it is acting as a facilitator.
But the question of who takes over the airport is a sensitive one: beyond the security concerns, the airport is in a bad state, US officials say, adding that apart from the US Army, there are few entities in the world capable of taking charge of it from one day to the next.
US and Western experts on air traffic have just completed an evaluation of the airport in a bid to assess if commercial flights could resume quickly, Price said Friday.
Other officials are more blunt: there won't be many airlines that will agree to fly into Kabul as long as the Taliban are unable to offer real assurances on security and that the infrastructure is in good working order.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/future-of-kabul-airport-subject-of-intense-negotiations-2521527">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/future-of-kabul-airport-subject-of-intense-negotiations-2521527</a>

news world Future Of Kabul Airport Subject Of Intense Negotiations

Washington: Who will ultimately run the airport in Kabul after US forces leave? That question -- a vital one for Afghanistan's new T...

"They Didn't Need To Die": Pentagon Seeks Answers For Kabul Attack

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<div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="'They Didn't Need To Die': Pentagon Seeks Answers For Kabul Attack" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2021-08/67133km8_afghanistan-evacuation-reuters_625x300_28_August_21.jpg" title="'They Didn't Need To Die': Pentagon Seeks Answers For Kabul Attack" /></div>
US soldiers with the 82nd Airborne Division direct evacuees toward buses during an evacuation
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Washington:
By Wednesday night, U.S. intelligence agencies were near certain that an attack was imminent outside Kabul airport, triggering a State Department warning to American citizens to leave the area immediately.
Just over 12 hours later, a suicide bomber walked through the large crowds to a gate manned by U.S. troops and detonated explosives, killing at least 13 U.S. service members and 79 Afghans.
It was a tragic coda to America's 20-year war in Afghanistan, the largest loss of life for the U.S. military there in a decade, on the cusp of the full withdrawal of troops by Aug. 31 ordered by President Joe Biden.
Among the most pressing questions as the U.S. military launches its investigation: How did the bomber make it through Taliban checkpoints? Why were U.S. troops in such a concentrated space when they knew an attack was imminent?
"It was a failure somewhere," General Frank McKenzie, the head of U.S. Central Command, told reporters hours after the attack, which was claimed by Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K).
But at some point, McKenzie added, troops had no choice but to come in contact with people trying to board evacuation flights, screen them, pat them down for weapons, and ensure they did not make it into the airport if they posed a threat.
U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the conditions for the attack were set months in advance.
They told Reuters that weeks before the evacuation from Kabul airport began following the Taliban's takeover of the capital, the military had been seeking approval to get at-risk Afghans out of the country.
But the slow tempo of processing and inability to secure housing for the evacuees in third countries slowed down the pace of departures, according to the officials, at one point halting all flights from Kabul for six hours.
That meant troops were on the frontlines at the airport gates in the face of chaos outside.
"This didn't need to happen," a U.S. military official told Reuters.
"They didn't need to die."
DEBATE OVER BAGRAM
In the maelstrom of criticism aimed at Biden for the perilous evacuation of both U.S. citizens and Afghans who worked for the Americans, some have questioned his decision to hand back Bagram airbase in July, by far the United States' largest military facility in Afghanistan.
Some Republican lawmakers have argued that if the base had been kept open, the evacuation would have been more orderly.
U.S. officials rejected those arguments.
One U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said it would have taken an estimated 8,000 U.S. troops to secure Bagram, which likely would have been attacked by the Taliban as they swept to power. Americans wanting to leave the capital then would have faced a roughly 40-minute drive through Taliban checkpoints.
In the coming hours, the United States will turn its attention to withdrawing the approximately 5,000 troops at Kabul's airport - and the White House said on Friday the next few days will likely be the most dangerous of the operation.
ISIS terrorists have shot at aircraft already during the evacuation operation, but have had little success, according to the officials, who added that rocket attacks and suicide bombings will become an even larger threat as the number of U.S. troops dwindles.
The military is expected to continue to fly out evacuees even as they withdraw equipment and troops, though the number is expected to drop precipitously.
Officials said the withdrawal was particularly challenging because of a mixture of security threats along with a humanitarian crisis taking place outside the airport.
Unlike many previous military withdrawals, such as from Iraq in 2011, terrorist groups have been able to develop plans that focus on a single target, the airport, rather than on a number of U.S. bases.
Military planners are also desperate to avoid any repeat of the situation where thousands of desperate Afghans stormed the runway, hoping to get on a plane. Several died, some falling from airborne craft.
One of the U.S. officials said Biden's "Saigon" moment, the infamous U.S. evacuation from Vietnam in 1975, could still be to come as Afghans outside the airport realize the final stages of Washington's military withdrawal are underway.
SYMBOLIC RETALIATION?
Biden, his voice breaking with emotion, vowed on Thursday that the United States would hunt down those responsible for the airport attack, and said he had ordered the Pentagon to come up with plans to strike at the perpetrators.
On Friday, the U.S. military said it launched a drone strike that it believed had killed an Islamic State attack planner in eastern Afghanistan.
But officials have cautioned that beyond a symbolic act or limited operation, the United States could in fact do little to degrade ISIS-K.
"We've been trying to destroy the group in Afghanistan since 2014 and couldn't do it with thousands of troops on the ground," the defense official said.
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/didnt-need-to-happen-pentagon-seeks-answers-for-kabul-attack-2521521">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/didnt-need-to-happen-pentagon-seeks-answers-for-kabul-attack-2521521</a>

news world "They Didn't Need To Die": Pentagon Seeks Answers For Kabul Attack

US soldiers with the 82nd Airborne Division direct evacuees toward buses during an evacuation Washington: By Wednesday night, U.S. inte...

Haqqani Network, Taliban Separate, Says US, As Pakistani Terrorist Emerges In Afghanistan

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Pakistan's Haqqani Network terrorist Khalil Haqqani is Taliban's new chief of security in Afghanistan
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Washington:
Despite close links between terrorist groups Taliban and Haqqani Network, the US State Department on Friday (local time) said that they are two separate entities.
During a press briefing, when US State Department spokesperson Ned Price was asked about sharing information regarding the security of Kabul airport with the Taliban and whether it was extended to Haqqani Network, Mr Price replied, "The Taliban and Haqqani Network are two separate entities."
Despite his denial, it is reported that the Taliban and the Haqqani Network share strong links. The US first designated the Haqqani Network as a terrorist organisation in 2012.
The National Counter-terrorism Center said the Haqqanis "is considered the most lethal and sophisticated terror group targeting US, Coalition, and Afghan forces" and said the Haqqani Network was considered a terrorist group "because of its involvement in the Afghan insurgency, attacks on US military and civilian personnel and Western interests in Afghanistan, and because of its ties to the Taliban and Al Qaeda."
A Pakistani protege, Khalil Haqqani, who has a USD 5 million reward after the US designated him a terrorist 10 years ago is a regular visitor to Pakistan's military headquarters in Rawalpindi, is one of the new rulers of Afghanistan, reported The New York Times.
Known to American intelligence as the Taliban emissary to Al Qaeda, Khalil Haqqani showed up in Kabul last week as their new chief of security, brazenly armed with an American-made M4 rifle, with a protection squad dressed in American combat gear.
The nexus between the Pakistanis and the Haqqani was indisputable and indispensable to the Taliban takeover, said Douglas London, a former CIA counter-terrorism chief for South and Southwest Asia.
The members of the Haqqani family had prominent positions inside the Taliban. In fact, the Taliban, Haqqani Network, and Al Qaeda are deeply intertwined in Afghanistan, with the Taliban integrating Haqqani Network leaders and terrorists with Al Qaeda links into its command structure.
Moreover, the splinter group of ISIS, the IS - Khorasan or ISIS-K who had claimed Kabul airport blast, has long clashed with the Taliban and Al Qaeda in Afghanistan, claiming Taliban rule is illegitimate.
The US has relied upon the Taliban to maintain security checkpoints around Kabul's airport. Central Command leader General Frank McKenzie said Thursday the US would continue to ask the Taliban to assist with security, saying he hadn't seen evidence the Taliban let the attack occur. 
 
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/haqqani-network-taliban-separate-says-us-as-pak-terrorist-khalil-haqqani-emerges-in-afghanistan-2521472">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/haqqani-network-taliban-separate-says-us-as-pak-terrorist-khalil-haqqani-emerges-in-afghanistan-2521472</a>

news world Haqqani Network, Taliban Separate, Says US, As Pakistani Terrorist Emerges In Afghanistan

Pakistan's Haqqani Network terrorist Khalil Haqqani is Taliban's new chief of security in Afghanistan Washington: Despite close...

Denmark To Scrap All Covid-19 Restrictions

Denmark will on September 10th stop classifying Covid-19 as an “illness which is a critical threat to society”, meaning all remaining special pandemic restrictions will expire, <a href="https://www.thelocal.dk/20210827/denmark-to-scrap-all-covid-19-restrictions-next-month/">The Local </a>reported. In a <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://sum.dk/nyheder/2021/august/regeringen-planlaegger-ikke-at-forlaenge-kategorisering-af-covid-19-som-samfundskritisk-sygdom" target="_blank">press release</a> issued on Friday morning, the country’s health minister Magnus Heunicke said that the high level of vaccination in Denmark, particularly among the vulnerable, had radically altered the risks posed by the virus.
“The epidemic is under control, we have record high vaccination rates,” he said in a statement. “As a result, on September 10th, we can drop some of the special rules we have had to introduce in the fight against Covid-19.”
September 10th marks the expiry date for that the executive order classifying Covid-19 as a “socially critical illness”, which was passed by the Danish parliament’s Epidemic Committee on March 10th last year. 
The parties in the centre-right blue bloc, led by the Liberal Party, have already said that they believe that Covid-19 should no longer be classed as a serious threat to society, and the health ministry’s announcement came less than an hour before the ruling Social Democrats were due to discuss the issue with the other parties in the Epidemic Committee. 
“When it sinks in for the Social Democrat government that they are in a minority, they then come up with better ideas just 45 minutes before the meeting in the Epidemic Committee is starting,” said Sophie Løhde, a member of the committee for the Liberal Party. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" readability="5.6949152542373">
Når det går op for S-regeringen de er i mindretal, ja så kommer de også på bedre tanker 45 min før mødet i Epidemiudvalget skulle starte. Tak for det <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/dkpol?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#dkpol</a> <a href="https://t.co/4oJ4DlsEon">https://t.co/4oJ4DlsEon</a>
— Sophie Løhde (@sophieloehde) <a href="https://twitter.com/sophieloehde/status/1431173717745340416?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 27, 2021</a></blockquote>
A number of restrictions are set to lapse on September 1st, notably the requirement to show a valid coronapass to sit in restaurants and bars, and the ban on discos and nightclubs.  
Friday’s announcement means that just ten days after nightclubs reopen on September 1st, visitors will no longer have to show a coronapas, and it also means that from September 10th, those going to watch a Superliga football match or attend an outdoor event with more than 2,000 people, will no longer need a coronapas. 
<div class="F0ClXtBc"><a href="https://www.infowarsstore.com/vitamin-mineral-fusion?ims=gkiko&utm_campaign=vmfhero&utm_source=Infowars+Hero&utm_medium=banner&utm_content=vmfhero" target="_blank"><img src="https://api.directus.libertycdn.com/uploads/_/originals/Hero-5.png" /></a></div>
The change in the classification of Covid-19 will not, however, affect rules on travel into Denmark, which are governed by a <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.justitsministeriet.dk/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Endelig-aftaletekst.pdf" target="_blank">separate inter-party agreement</a> which is due to expire in October, a spokesperson for the health ministry said. 
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Dr. Peter R. Breggin joins The Alex Jones Show to warn the public about the <a href="https://freeworldnews.tv/watch?id=6129789606e1ac73023522f8" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">deadly dangers of the COVID-19 vaccine bioweapon</a>.
 
 
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news Denmark To Scrap All Covid-19 Restrictions

Denmark will on September 10th stop classifying Covid-19 as an “illness which is a critical threat to society”, meaning all remaining specia...