“Thank God, we are now an independent country. (Foreigners) should not give us their orders, it is our system and we have our own decisions,” Akhundzada added. In the speech, Akhundzada praised the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan last August, nearly two decades after they were driven out of Kabul by US troops, saying: “The success of the Afghan jihad is not only a source of pride for Afghans but for all Muslims all over the world.” The speed of the takeover, just weeks after US troops began withdrawing, took the world by surprise and led to the collapse of the foreign-backed government of Ashraf Ghani, who had fled the country. Akhundzada made the comments in a recording during a three-day religious gathering of 3,000 attendees — all of whom were men, according to state media. The meeting was not open to the media, but CNN listened to the recording of Akhundzada’s speech. The rally in Kabul began on Thursday. Akhundzada is based in Kandahar, the birthplace and spiritual home of the Taliban, and is rarely photographed in public, fueling rumors over the years that he was ill or possibly dead. No photos of Akhundzada attending the meeting, which began in Kabul on Thursday, have been released. A senior religious cleric from the Taliban’s founding generation, Akhundzada was named Taliban leader in 2016 after the group’s previous leader Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansoor was killed in a US airstrike in Pakistan. He retained the position when the group announced its interim government in September. Akhundzada ruled out including previous governments in the formation of any future government, although he said he “forgave” them. “I forgave the oppressors of the former regime. I don’t hold them accountable for their past actions, if anyone created trouble for them without committing new crimes, I will punish them. However, forgiveness does not mean bringing them into the government.” Akhundzada said on the recording. The message appeared to contradict statements made by other members of the Taliban leadership in recent months, who have expressed openness to a more inclusive government in order to win international support. The international community has repeatedly called on the Taliban to expand the ranks of their government and restore the rights of women and girls, which have been stripped since the group took power, if they want to be officially recognized. The World Bank has frozen projects worth hundreds of millions of dollars over the issue. Women in Afghanistan can no longer work in most fields and need a male guardian for long-distance travel, while girls have been banned from returning to high school. Sirajuddin Haqqani, Afghanistan’s deputy interior minister and co-deputy leader of the Taliban since 2016, told CNN in May that there would be “good news soon” on the Taliban’s still-unfulfilled promise to allow girls to return to school, but suggested that women who protested the regime’s restrictions on women’s rights should stay home. During an emergency meeting held in Geneva on Friday, UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet warned that “women and girls in Afghanistan are experiencing the most significant and rapid decline in the enjoyment of their rights in all areas of of recent decades”. Speaking to the clerics, Akhundzada reaffirmed his commitment to implementing Sharia law, Islam’s legal system derived from the Koran, while expressing his opposition to the “lifestyle of non-believers”. The Taliban’s harsh interpretation of Sharia law when they were last in power led to dozens of violent punishments, including stoning of alleged adulterers, public executions and mutilations.
