Haibatullah Akhundzada, a key to the Taliban's resurgence

The Taliban movement's inner workings and leadership have always been largely shrouded in secrecy, even during their rule of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001. One of their mysterious leaders is Haibatullah Akhundzada, the outfit's supreme power, who will probably become the head of the ruling council of Afghanistan.

Akhundzada was appointed leader of the Taliban in a swift power transition after a US drone strike killed his predecessor, Mullah Mansour Akhtar, in 2016.

Before ascending the movement's ranks, Akhundzada was a low-profile religious figure. He is widely believed to have been selected to serve more as a spiritual figurehead than a military commander.

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After being appointed leader, Akhundzada secured a pledge of loyalty from al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri, who showered the religious scholar with praise -- calling him "the emir of the faithful".

This helped seal his jihadi credentials with the group's long-time allies.

Akhundzada was tasked with the enormous challenge of unifying a militant movement that briefly fractured during a bitter power struggle following the assassination of his predecessor, and the revelation that the leadership had hidden the death of Taliban founder Mullah Omar for years.

The leader's public profile has been largely limited to the release of annual messages during Islamic holidays.

Believed to be a 60-year-old, Akhundzada is known to have hardline religious views. In the 1980s, he was involved in the Islamist resistance against the Soviet military campaign in Afghanistan.

One of the Taliban's main spokesmen stated on July 20, 2017, that Akhundzada's son Abdur Rahman was killed while carrying out a suicide attack on an Afghan military base in Gereshk in Helmand Province. An Afghan government official said that they were investigating the incident but could not confirm if Rahman was killed.

In May 2021, Akhundzada invited Afghan people for the withdrawal of the United States forces and for the development of an Islamic state. After the withdrawal of the US forces, the Taliban began to capture one important region after another in Afghanistan and finally gained control of Kabul.