Hibatullah Akhundzada

Akhundzada is a leader in a land called Afghanistan.

He was born a long time ago. His family was not rich. His father was a man who led prayers.

Akhundzada became a leader of a group. He was a judge who knew many rules. He led this group to win a war.

Now he is the top leader. He makes many rules for the land. Some of these rules are hard for girls. They cannot go to school.

He stays away from most people. He does not use much technology. He is a very important man.

Hibatullah Akhundzada is the top leader of Afghanistan.

He was born in 1967. His family was not rich. His father led prayers at a mosque. After a war in the 1970s, his family moved to Pakistan. There, he studied at a religious school called a madrassa.

Akhundzada joined the Taliban in 1994. He was not a soldier. Instead, he was a judge. He used Islamic law to make decisions. He became a very important leader in the group. In 2016, he was chosen as the supreme leader.

In 2021, the Taliban won a long war. The United States troops left the country. Akhundzada became the absolute ruler of Afghanistan. He lives in a private house in Kandahar. He does not use much technology. He mostly uses letters to talk to others.

His rule has changed life for many people. He made rules that limit rights. For example, most teenage girls cannot go to school. In 2025, a court issued arrest warrants for him. They said he was treating women unfairly.

Hibatullah Akhundzada is the supreme leader of Afghanistan. He leads the Taliban government. This group took control of the country in 2021. Akhundzada is a very private person. He has almost no digital footprint. There are only two photos of him online. He also has a few audio recordings of his speeches. He does not use much modern technology. He often uses landline phones or even letters to talk to leaders.

His life began in a small village called Nakhoney. This village is in the Panjwayi District of Kandahar Province. He was born around October 1967. His family was not wealthy. His father, Muhammad Akhund, was a religious scholar. He led prayers at the Malook mosque. Because the family had no land, they lived on small payments. They relied on what people gave the father in cash or crops. After a war in 1979, the family moved to Pakistan.

Akhundzada spent many years studying religious law. He studied at a school called a madrassa in Pakistan. He earned the title of Sheikh al-Hadith. He was not a combat soldier. Instead, he was a judge. He used Sharia, which is Islamic law, to make decisions. He joined the Taliban in 1994. He worked in many different courts. He even helped train many Taliban fighters in Quetta. In 2016, he was elected as the supreme leader of the Taliban.

His time as leader has seen many big changes. In 2019, he picked a leader for peace talks with the U.S. This led to an agreement in 2020. This agreement helped U.S. troops leave Afghanistan. In 2021, the Taliban won a major military offensive. This made Akhundzada the absolute ruler of the country. He rules from a private rental house in Kandahar. He does not live in the big Presidential Palace in Kabul.

Many people have concerns about his rule. His government has made rules that limit human rights. For example, most teenage girls cannot go to secondary school. They are also limited in their ability to work. In July 2025, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for him. They did this because of how women are treated in Afghanistan. His leadership remains a very serious topic for the world to watch.

Hibatullah Akhundzada is the supreme leader of Afghanistan. He leads the Taliban government, which took control of the country in 2021. Akhundzada is a highly reclusive figure with almost no digital footprint. There are only two photographs of him available online. He also has several audio recordings of his speeches. Unlike many leaders, he does not use much modern technology. He often communicates with officials through letters or landline telephones.

Akhundzada was born around October 1967. Taliban sources place his birth in the village of Nakhoney in Kandahar Province. Other sources suggest he was born in the nearby village of Sperwan. His family belonged to the Pashtun Nurzai tribe. His father, Muhammad Akhund, was a religious scholar. The family lived with very modest means. They did not own land or orchards. Instead, they relied on cash or crops given to the father by his congregation.

After the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, the family moved to Quetta, Pakistan. There, Akhundzada studied at a madrassa, which is a religious school. He earned the title "Sheikh al-Hadith" through his studies. During the 1980s, he was involved in the Islamist resistance against the Soviet military. He joined the Taliban movement in 1994. He did not serve as a combat commander. Instead, he focused on Islamic law, known as Sharia. He served in various roles, including the vice and virtue police in Farah Province. He also led military courts in Nangarhar Province.

Akhundzada became a central figure in the Taliban's religious and legal systems. He served as the head of the shadow justice system during the insurgency. He was also a highly respected trainer for militants in Quetta. After the U.S.-led invasion in 2001, he became the head of the council of religious scholars. He was a senior member of the Quetta Shura, a leadership council. He was known for issuing fatwas, which are religious rulings. These rulings settled important issues for the Taliban. He served as a deputy leader under the leader Akhtar Mansour starting in 2015.

On May 25, 2016, Akhundzada was elected supreme leader. He succeeded Akhtar Mansour, who had been killed in a U.S. drone strike. His appointment was a compromise choice. It helped avoid conflict between other powerful candidates. Two other leaders, Sirajuddin Haqqani and Mullah Yaqoob, were appointed as his deputies. Under his leadership, the Taliban engaged in major political and military shifts. In 2019, he appointed Abdul Ghani Baradar to lead peace talks with the United States. This led to the 2020 Doha Agreement. This agreement paved the way for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan.

In 2021, the Taliban launched a major military offensive. This offensive resulted in the Taliban taking control of Kabul. Akhundzada became the absolute ruler of Afghanistan. He rules from a private rental house in Kandahar rather than the Presidential Palace in Kabul. His leadership has faced significant international criticism. His government has implemented rules that restrict human rights. Most teenage girls are prevented from returning to secondary school. Women also face many limits on their ability to work.

Akhundzada's life has included several dangerous moments. There was an attempt on his life in 2012 when a man pointed a pistol at him during a lecture. In August 2019, a bomb blast at a mosque in Quetta killed his brother, Hafiz Ahmadullah. The attack also killed his father and wounded his son and nephews. In May 2024, the Afghanistan Freedom Front claimed they attempted an assassination in Kabul. Due to the treatment of women, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Akhundzada in July 2025. These warrants involve the alleged persecution of women in the country.