Afghanistan’s supreme leader made a public speech Sunday, for only the second time in six years, on the occasion of the Eid al-Fitr holiday, saying that the Taliban victory last August had enabled the country to regain freedom and security.
Worshipers were praying at the Eidgah Mosque in southern Kandahar City, considered a Taliban stronghold, when a man from the front rows stood up and was introduced as leader Hibatullah Akhundzada. of the Taliban.
He then began to speak, without turning back to the crowd, according to messages posted on social media.
Coming two days after the explosion of a bomb in a mosque in Kabul, the presence of this man never appearing in public was surrounded by exceptional security measures, and the entourage of the Taliban leader prevented journalists from approaching, reported an AFP correspondent.
“I congratulate you on victory, freedom and security. I congratulate you on security, and for the Islamic system,” he said.
While the number of attacks has fallen sharply since the Taliban took power last August, several have taken place in recent days, some claimed by the Islamic State (IS) group, mainly targeting Shia and Sufi Muslims and killing dozens of civilians.
The latest, Friday in Kabul against a mosque, killed at least 10 people.
“I’m so happy that I can’t even describe it,” Bismillah, a worshiper who was present at the mosque, later said. “I dreamed of praying alongside my Supreme Leader, hearing his voice or seeing him.”
Gul Ahmad, another Kandahar resident also present at the mosque, stressed that Afghans would continue to visit the mosque despite the attacks.
“Our people love their religion. Even if there are attacks every day, we will continue to go to mosques to pray there,” he said.
Two helicopters hovered over the mosque continuously during the two-hour ceremony.
– A reclusive leader –
Sunday’s intervention was only the second time Akhundzada has appeared in public since seizing control of the Taliban in 2016.
In October, he went to the Darul Uloom Hakimiah mosque, still in Kandahar, according to an audio recording published by the Taliban on social networks.
The low profile of this new leader has led to questions about his actual role in the new government, and even to rumors of his death.
His public profile is limited to posting messages on the occasion of Muslim holidays, and it is estimated that he spends most of his time in Kandahar.
On Friday, his message on the occasion of the Eid holiday made no mention of the latest bloody attack to date, and merely praised “the strong Islamic and national army” and “the solid intelligence organization” put in place by the Taliban.
For his part, in Kabul, Prime Minister Mohammad Hassan Akhund took advantage of his Eid speech to again accuse Washington of intervening in the internal affairs of Afghanistan.
“Aren’t they withholding the country’s wealth that was in their banks? Isn’t that interfering in the internal affairs of this country?” he said.
Washington seized billions of dollars in Afghan assets after it withdrew from the country in August, further aggravating the humanitarian crisis in the country.
Contrary to what was happening in Kandahar, in Kabul many faithful preferred to avoid going to the mosque for fear of new attacks.
The deadliest of them during Ramadan, against a mosque in Kunduz province (north) where a Sufi ceremony was taking place, killed 36 people and injured dozens.