by MUHAMMAD BURHAN
Internal divisions, economic mismanagement and extremist policies threaten regime implosion and new conflict in Afghanistan
Since its return to power in 2021, Afghanistan’s Taliban have struggled to transform their insurgent movement into a functioning government. Beneath an outward show of unity, the hardline regime is plagued by deep-rooted factionalism, economic mismanagement and growing public dissatisfaction.
According to analyst Mabin Biek, writing for The Cipher in an article titled “Taliban’s Internal Power Struggle: A Regime on the Brink,” the group’s greatest existential threat may not be another foreign intervention but rather its own internal fractures.
If left unchecked, these divisions could accelerate the Taliban’s collapse and plunge Afghanistan into yet another prolonged crisis.
One of the most pressing issues facing the Taliban government is its inability to maintain cohesion among various factions. Under the leadership of Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, the movement has become more centralized around his Noorzai tribal base. That tribal preference is known to have alienated other key Taliban leaders.
Unlike the late Mullah Omar, who commanded broad respect and united disparate groups, Akhundzada has struggled to achieve the same level of authority. Instead, his reputedly rigid leadership style has deepened the identity-based fault lines that run through the Taliban’s ranks.
Key figures like Mullah Yaqoob and Mullah Baradar each command their own power bases in the Taliban, giving rise to multiple centers of influence that are clashing over policy and resources.
These tensions are heightened by ethnic and tribal affiliations, which have become more pronounced now that the Taliban are attempting to govern in a united fashion rather than fight a geographically dispersed insurgency.
The unity once shown during the Doha talks that brought about an end of the war has since largely dissipated and has been replaced by jockeying for power within the movement’s upper echelons.
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