Family links controlling the Taliban

Mohamed Youssri

The Taliban rose in the midst of tribal and sectarian fanaticism in Afghanistan.

This fanaticism is manifest in one way or another in the movement’s kinetic and political orientations.

This had the greatest impact on the emergence of a family network, which controlled high positions within the movement.

Family interventions did not show in the selection of Mullah Omar’s successor in the leadership of the movement.

Nevertheless, the same interventions rear their heads from time to time. They leave significant imprints, opening the door for splits within the movement.

This was most manifest under Mullah Akhtar Mansour who took over the leadership of the movement after Mullah Omar’s death in 2016.

Mullah Omar’s family

Mullah Omar’s family still has strong influence over the Taliban. Mullah Omar is the godfather of the movement.

Mullah Yacoub

Mullah Yaqoub is the eldest son of Mullah Omar. Yaqoub was born in 1990. Despite his young age, he enjoys strong influence inside the movement due to his association with his father’s name.

Yaqoub is also the head of the movement’s military committee.

Mullah Abdulmanan Omari

He is a member of the Taliban’s Consultative Council. Omari held this position after Mullah Akhtar Mansour assumed the leadership of the movement.

Omari objected to the way Akhtar Mansour was appointed. He travelled a lot to Qatar.

Rumor had it that he receives 50,000 Qatari riyals as a salary every month. He is also known to lead a lavish life with his family in Doha.

Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar

Born in Oruzgan province in 1968, after the Soviets left and the country was torn apart in civil war, Baradar established a religious school in Kandahar in 1989.

The school was the nucleus of the Taliban. When the movement came to power in 1996, he became deputy defense minister.

However, he fled the country after the downfall of the movement in 2001 and was arrested in 2010 in the Pakistani city of Karachi.