KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — Messages by two influential Taliban leaders in Afghanistan this week showed tensions between hardliners and more moderate elements who want to scrap harsher policies and attract more outside support, experts said Thursday.
The messages for Eid al-Fitr marking the end of Ramadan were delivered by supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, who defended the imposition of Islamic law and railed against the international community for its criticism, and Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani, who called on the Taliban to be humble and avoid behaving in ways that make Afghans unhappy.
The Taliban seized power in 2021 amid the chaotic withdrawal of U.S. and NATO forces after two decades of war. Their rule, especially bans affecting women and girls, has triggered widespread condemnation and deepened their international isolation.
The reclusive Akhundzada released two messages for Eid. In the first, a written statement issued on Saturday in seven languages including Arabic, English, Turkmen and Uzbek, he was conciliatory and pragmatic, with measured advice for officials in the Taliban-controlled administration.
He issued the second in a rare public appearance on Wednesday at Eidgah Mosque in the Taliban heartland of Kandahar in the south. His Eid sermon, a half-hour address in Pashto, was more in keeping with the tone and content of his past fiery messages.
“If anyone has any issues with us, we are open to resolving them, but we will never compromise on our principles or Islam,” he said. “At the same time, we don’t expect Islam to be disrespected. I won’t even take a step away from Shariah (Islamic law). They (the international community) object to it, saying public stoning and amputation are against their laws and human rights. You expect us to follow your laws while imposing them on us.”
Akhundzada is almost never seen in public. There are no photos from his address, and his face was concealed from the thousands of worshipers.
Haqqani released his Eid message on Wednesday in Afghanistan's commonly spoken languages of Dari and Pashto. He called on the Taliban to avoid creating a rift between the people and authorities. And, unlike Akhundzada, he referenced the challenges facing the country.
“We know that after nearly half a century of problems and difficulties, we cannot easily and urgently expect the kind of life and possibilities we wish for, but the important thing is that the (Islamic) system and the whole nation are working to fulfill these wishes," he said.
Michael Kugelman, director of the Wilson Center’s South Asia Institute, said Haqqani, by attempting to show a softer side, was looking to draw trust and support from a broader Afghan public aware of the Taliban’s “brutal form” of governance. But for Akhundzada, the Eid sermon was about consolidating support and loyalty in his circle.
The messages also had a global audience in mind. The Haqqani network seeks investment and aid from the international community, Kugelman said.
“Projecting a softer side is likely meant to make potential donors more comfortable. With the emir (Akhundzada) it’s about signalling that the Taliban’s social agenda, especially its abhorrent policies toward women, isn’t up for negotiation," he said.
The Taliban have barred women from education beyond sixth grade, most jobs and public spaces like parks. They have implemented corporal punishment and public executions, practices seen during their first period of rule in the late 1990s. The economy is now in decline and Afghans are experiencing drought, hunger, and displacement on a massive scale.
Pakistani journalist and author Ahmed Rashid, who has written several books about Afghanistan and the Taliban, said the two leaders were sending a strong message to the faithful that nothing has changed despite pressure from the West.
“There are clearly divisions within the Taliban but they’re holding together,” Rashid said. “There are moderate elements that want to see women educated, but they’re not in a strong position so they’re biding their time.”
He described Akhundzada as a skilled communicator who used his mosque training to great effect. “It’s how he establishes his writ. But he doesn’t answer questions that people are asking. There are elements of Afghan society who want something better.”
Haqqani has previously spoken out against the Taliban’s leadership and decision-making process, drawing a rebuke from chief spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid.
But Haqqani didn’t overstep in his Eid message, according to Rashid. “He is on the periphery, but he is very popular. His support base is pushing him forward.”
The Taliban’s double messaging is also part of a skillful campaign to show they have influence and clout at home and abroad, he said: “They’re saying, ‘We can spread the word.’ They have done this with pride and conviction.”
No country recognizes the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan. But some important regional players, including China, Iran and Pakistan, have formal diplomatic relations with them.
FILE - Taliban leaders attend a ceremony in Kabul, Afghanistan, May 11, 2023. Messages by two influential Taliban leaders in Afghanistan this week showed tensions between hardliners and more moderate elements who want to scrap harsher policies and attract more outside support, experts said Thursday, April 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi, file)
FILE - In this undated and unknown location photo, the new leader of Taliban fighters, Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada is photographed. Messages by two influential Taliban leaders in Afghanistan this week showed tensions between hardliners and more moderate elements who want to scrap harsher policies and attract more outside support, experts said Thursday, April 11, 2024. (Afghan Islamic Press via AP, File)
FILE - Afghan Taliban's Acting Minister of Interior Sirajuddin Haqqani speaks during a ceremony in Kabul,, Afghanistan, May 11, 2023. Messages by two influential Taliban leaders in Afghanistan this week showed tensions between hardliners and more moderate elements who want to scrap harsher policies and attract more outside support, experts said Thursday, April 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi, file)
If the Israel-Hamas war stopped today, it would still take until 2040 to rebuild all the homes that have been destroyed in nearly seven months of Israel’s bombardment and ground offensives in the territory, according to United Nations estimates released Thursday.
The United States has pressured Israel to increase aid deliveries during the war, and on Wednesday, Israel reopened a border crossing with hard-hit northern Gaza Strip for the first time since it was damaged at the start of the war.
Meanwhile, on his seventh visit since the latest war between Israel and Hamas broke out in October, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken pressed for a cease-fire deal. The proposed truce would free hostages held by Hamas in exchange for a halt to the fighting and the delivery of much needed food, medicine and water into Gaza. Palestinian prisoners are also expected to be released as part of the deal.
On Oct. 7, Palestinian militants launched an unprecedented attack into southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and abducting around 250 hostages. Israel says militants still hold around 100 hostages and the remains of more than 30 others.
The death toll in Gaza is more than 34,500 Palestinians, according to local health officials, as the territory faces a humanitarian catastrophe. The war has driven around 80% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million from their homes, caused vast destruction in several towns and cities and pushed northern Gaza to the brink of famine.
Currently:
— Nonstop Mideast coverage of the Israel-Hamas war pauses for protests and police action at U.S. schools.
— Colombia’s president says the country will break diplomatic relations with Israel over the war in Gaza.
— The Biden administration is weighing measures to help Palestinians bring family from the region.
— Blinken presses Hamas to seal cease-fire with Israel, saying “the time is now” for a deal.
Follow AP’s coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
Here's the latest:
BEIRUT — The Gaza Health Ministry said Thursday the bodies of 28 people killed by Israeli strikes were brought to local hospitals over the past 24 hours. Hospitals also received 51 wounded, it said in its daily report.
That brings the overall Palestinian death toll from the Israel-Hamas war to at least 34,596, the ministry said, and 77,816 wounded. The Health Ministry does not distinguish between fighters and civilians in its tallies, but says that women and children make up around two-thirds of those killed.
The Israeli military says it has killed some 13,000 militants, without providing evidence to back up the claim.
AMMAN, Jordan — If the war in Gaza stopped today, it would still take until 2040 to rebuild all the homes that have been destroyed in nearly seven months of Israel’s bombardment and ground offensives in the territory, according to United Nations estimates released Thursday.
“Every additional day that this war continues is exacting huge and compounding costs to Gazans and all Palestinians” said United Nations Development Programme Administrator Achim Steiner.
At least 370,000 housing units in Gaza have been damaged, including 79,000 destroyed completely, according to the new report by the UNDP and the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, which details how Israel’s assault, launched after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, has devastated the economy of the Palestinian territories, and how the impact will increase the longer the conflict goes on.
After previous Israel-Hamas conflicts, housing was rebuilt at a rate of 992 units year. Even if Israel allows a five-fold increase of construction material to enter Gaza, it would take until 2040 to rebuild the destroyed houses, without repairing the damaged ones, the report said.
In Gaza, the Israeli offensive has virtually shut down the economy, which contracted 81% in the last quarter of 2023. The report said the “productive basis of the economy has been destroyed,” with sectors experienced losses of more than 90%.
Gaza, home to some 2.3 million Palestinians, has been under blockade by Israel and Egypt since Hamas’ 2007 takeover, putting tight controls on what enters and exits the territory. Even before the war, it faced “hyper-unemployment” of 45%, reaching nearly 63% among younger workers. Since the war began, it lost some 201,000 jobs.
The war has also impacted the West Bank, where for months Israel has imposed restrictions on movement. In 2024, the entire Palestinian economy — including both Gaza and the West Bank — has so far contracted 25.8%, and if the war continues the loss will reach 29% by July, equivalent to $7.6 billion, the report said.
BEIRUT — The militant Palestinian group Hamas praised Columbia's announcement that it would break relations with Israel, saying such a move is a recognition of the suffering of Palestinian people.
In its statement Thursday, Hamas called on other leaders of Latin America to cut their countries’ diplomatic relations with Israel, which it described as “a rogue and Fascist entity that is continuing its crimes against our people.”
Historically, Colombia was one of Israel’s closest partners in Latin America. But relations between the two nations cooled since Gustavo Petro was elected as Colombia’s first leftist president in 2022.
Petro announced his government would break diplomatic relations with Israel effective Thursday, describing Israel’s siege of Gaza as “genocide.” He previously suspended purchases of weapons from Israel and compared that country’s actions in Gaza to those of Nazi Germany. Hamas said it valued Petro's stance highly.
Weeks after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel that sparked the current war in Gaza and killed some 1,200 people, Petro recalled Colombia’s ambassador to Israel as he criticized the country’s military offensive.
Activists block a highway as they demand the release of the hostages from Hamas captivity in the Gaza Strip, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Thursday, May 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
Patriarch Theophilos III, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, left, performs the Washing of the Feet ceremony during the Holy Week at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, where many Christians believe Jesus was crucified, buried and rose from the dead, in Jerusalem's Old City, Thursday, May 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
A line of Pima County Sheriff's deputies form a shield line as law enforcement gathers outside an encampment of pro-Palestinian protesters encamped on the University of Arizona campus, early Wednesday, May 1, 2024 in Tucson, Ariz. (Kelly Presnell/Arizona Daily Star via AP)
Israeli soldiers stand near their vehicles, displaying t-shirts calling for the return of hostages, on the Israeli side of the Erez crossing into the Gaza Strip from southern Israel as trucks carrying humanitarian aid supplies bound for the Gaza Strip are inspected, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Israeli soldiers gather on the Israeli side of the Erez crossing from southern Israel into Gaza, bordering a battle-ravaged area of the northern Gaza Strip, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Boxes from Jordan wait an inspection area for trucks carrying humanitarian aid supplies bound for the Gaza Strip, on the Palestinian side of the Erez crossing between southern Israel and Gaza, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators watch police activity behind a makeshift barricade on the UCLA campus Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Israeli soldiers gather near a gate to walks through an inspection area for trucks carrying humanitarian aid supplies bound for the Gaza Strip, on the Israeli side of the Erez crossing into Gaza, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Secretary of State Antony Blinken, centre, is welcomed by Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Mike Herzog, as he arrives at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, April 30, 2024. (Evelyn Hockstein/Pool Photo via AP)
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks to the press at the port of Ashdod, in Ashdod, Israel, May 1, 2024. (Evelyn Hockstein/Pool Photo via AP)
Col. Moshe Tetro, head of COGAT's Coordination and Liaison Administration (CLA) for Gaza, speaks to journalists at an inspection area for trucks carrying humanitarian aid supplies bound for the Gaza Strip, on the Palestinian side of the Erez crossing from southern Israel, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators continue their encampment at Library Mall on the campus of the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wis., Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (Samantha Madar/Wisconsin State Journal via AP)
Israeli soldiers are seen at a staging ground near the border with the Gaza Strip, in southern Israel, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Palestinians look at the destruction after an Israeli airstrike in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, Tuesday, April 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
