HAIBATULLAH AKHUNDZADA

By restraining al-Qaeda and its own fighters, the Taliban could use this moment to shed its pariah status and seek much-needed economic aid.

A three-day assembly of Islamic clerics and tribal elders in Kabul has concluded with pledges of support for the Taliban and calls on the international community to recognize Afghanistan’s Taliban-led government

A three-day assembly of Islamic clerics and tribal elders in Kabul has concluded with pledges of support for the Taliban and calls on the international community to recognize Afghanistan's Taliban-led government.

The Taliban’s supreme leader has offered prayers for Afghanistan’s earthquake victims in during a speech to Islamic clerics in Kabul

The Taliban's supreme leader has offered prayers for Afghanistan's earthquake victims during a speech to Islamic clerics in Kabul.

Taliban hard-liners are turning back the clock in Afghanistan with a flurry of repressive edicts over the past days that hark back to their harsh rule from the late 1990s.

As the Taliban takes power, Afghans — not to mention the rest of the world — must contend with a leadership that remains an unknown quantity for many.

Two men — a reclusive 60-year-old mullah who is the Taliban's top commander and a high-profile, battle-hardened lieutenant — are the odds-on picks to form the new regime.

The secretive Taliban leadership is headed by a supreme leader and three deputies - a mix of leaders of old and the sons of famed insurgents.