2. Previous Function:

Governor Helmand Province (20210824)
Commander of the Taliban’s suicide squad
Akhunzadas Special Forces Commander (20231030)
Provincial Police Commander Kandahar  (20250212)

 

3. Biodata:
Mawlawi Talib, who led the attack on Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand, Afghanistan, was released from prison last year (2020) under prisoner exchange under pressure by the Afghan government by the Trump administration. Mawlawi Talib was captured last year and released along with another 5,000 Taliban prisoners as Donald Trump tried to begin peace talks.
 

Talib, real name Mullah Abdul Ahad, is the supreme leader of the Afghan Taliban arrested in Sangin after being discovered while trying to slip through a checkpoint. He was sent to Bagram prison outside Bagram, but was subsequently released as part of an exchange. The last of the 5,000 prisoners was released in August 2020.

The liberated people were asked to guarantee that they would not return to battle, but it is believed that many other than Abdul Ahad already have them. Abdul Ahad resumed his old duties shortly after his release and is now overseeing the battle in Lashkar Gah, confirmed by Ataura Afghan, chairman of the Heramand Legislature.

Akhundzada is building a 40,000 strong military force separate from the Taliban military and police, however, because he does not trust top Taliban leaders, including Yaqoub and Sirajuddin.

On 20231030, Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesperson of the Taliban, announced that Hibatullah Akhundzada, the leader of the group, has appointed Abdul Ahad Talib as the commander of his special forces. Talib had previously been the governor of the Taliban in Helmand province. He was also a key Taliban commander during the group’s raid on Panjshir province. In March 2023, Rahmatullah Nabil, the former head of Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security (NDS), said that approximately 60 billion Afghanis were spent from the Ministry of Finance's budget over the past year to support Hibatullah Akhundzada's specialised military forces.