He was an Islamic judge of the Sharia courts of the 1996–2001 Taliban government. He was chosen to lead the Taliban’s shadow court system at the start of the Taliban insurgency, and remained in that post until being elected supreme leader of the Taliban in May 2016.

Hibatullah Akhundzada (Pashto: هَبَّتِ اللَّهُ اخْنُدَزَادَهُ ‎; born 26 March 1957) is an Afghan politician, soldier, scholar, cleric, and jurist who is the 2nd and the current Supreme Leader of Afghanistan since 2021 and as well as the 3rd Leader of the Taliban since 2016 following a drone that strike killed his ...

Sep 7, 2021 · Who Is Haibatullah Akhundzada, The Taliban’s 'Supreme Leader' Of Afghanistan? The Afghan Taliban has named a reclusive, hard-line Sunni cleric as its supreme leader in a still-unrecognized...

1 day ago · (L) Hibatullah Akhundzada, (R) Sirajuddin Haqqani. (File) A power struggle is reportedly on the rise within the ranks of Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban as key figures loyal to Taliban chief ...

Sep 7, 2021 · Hibatullah Akhundzada became the supreme commander of the Taliban in May 2016, and is now leader of the so-called Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.

Jan 23, 2025 · Secluded in his stronghold in southern Afghanistan, reclusive Taliban Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada is the cornerstone of the movement that has ruled the country unchallenged since ...

May 25, 2016 · The Afghan Taliban's new leader Hibatullah Akhundzada is a hardline religious scholar from Kandahar who is thought unlikely to change the group's direction....

Sep 7, 2021 · In one of the only known photographs of Taliban supreme leader Haibatullah Akhundzada, he stares directly at the camera - an expressionless face between a white turban and a long, grey beard.

Aug 15, 2023 · Two years since the Taliban took over again, Afghanistan is in the hands of Hibatullah Akhundzada, known as the Amir Al Mu'mineen, or "Commander of the Faithful." But despite the prominence...

The current supreme leader is Hibatullah Akhundzada, who assumed office in exile during the Taliban insurgency on 25 May 2016, upon being chosen by the Leadership Council, and came to power on 15 August 2021 with the Taliban's victory over U.S.-backed forces in …