Zabihullah Mujahid Saib's typical message: "Complex attack underway against the military base of invaders called 'Gorga', in the PD9 of the city of #Kabul". The text is part of a tweet by the Taliban spokesperson, on November 28, 2018. It continues as follows: “The operation began with a truck bomb to remove obstacles, killing dozens of invaders / mercenaries and clearing the way for several of those who they seek martyrdom enter the base and face the enemy ”. That same Mujahid, a shadow spokesman for the fundamentalist group for more than a decade, especially on social networks, is the one who on Tuesday led the first press conference since the fall of Kabul. "We will guarantee women's rights within Islamic law," she said.A coup in the rhetorical offensive with which the Taliban try to avoid international condemnation, from an old acquaintance of reporters, who until now had avoided any public appearance. The mystery was served.
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Who are the main Taliban leaders
Little is known about Mujahid;
much less, paradoxically, than is known about the top leaders of the Quetta Shura, the main governing body of the Taliban.
In May 2009, CNN journalist Nic Robertson interviewed a man named Zabihullah Mujahid.
He served as a mouthpiece for the Taliban - the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, as the group defines itself.
He did not show his face.
As Robertson described it, he was a man in his 30s, perhaps younger, bearded, around 1'80 tall.
After that, the one who began to respond, with increasing frequency, to calls from reporters under the name Zabihullah Mujahid said that CNN had interviewed an imposter. Because of this and the lack of transparency, there has been speculation about the possibility that Mujahid was more than one. Still yesterday, many of the journalists who have followed him for years and have even spoken to him on the phone quarantined that the individual who appeared at the Kabul Media Center was the only Mujahid.
Two years after that Robertson interview,
The New York Times newspaper
dedicated an article to the spokesman in which he said from Afghan sources that Mujahid could really be Hajji Ismail, a 42-year-old Pakistani. That would hardly match the image that the Taliban spokesman gave this Tuesday, perhaps closer to 40 than 50. Be that as it may, the most solid profile around this spokesman speaks of a man with higher training in religious studies , who has fought at the front and held a position in the Ministry of Culture and Information under the Taliban government.
His Twitter account is tremendously active. It reports in Pashtun language on the attacks under the responsibility of the Taliban - such as the attack in Kabul against the Minister of Defense on August 4, which caused the death of eight people - and denies the responsibility of the group when others have attacked - experts some of Mujahid's own denials, usually linked to a very high number of victims, have been challenged in the region at times. It posts the messages of the organization, like other armed groups, through an Internet address on the justpaste.it page, a container of information that can be eliminated, but which remains there without restrictions. Mujahid, the Twitter profile under that name, has more than 315,000 followers, but only follows 25 other users,most members of the military or the media.
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#BREAKING
Complex attack underway on military base of invaders named 'Gorga' in PD9 of #Kabul city.
Operation began with truck bomb removing all obstacles, killings tens of invaders / hirelings & clearing path for multiple martyrdom seekers to enter base & engage remaining enemy.
- Zabihullah (..ذبـــــیح الله م) (@ Zabehulah_M33) November 28, 2018
Despite the fact that for the common reporters who follow Afghanistan, Mujahid was simply the spokesperson and transmission thread from the top of the armed group abroad, the treatment offered this Tuesday to this Taliban suggests that he maintains a position of strength. He himself, in an interview with Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, recently drew the current organization chart of the Taliban command. Other spokesmen such as Suhail Shaheen, in Doha, and the representative of the group's political office, Mohamed Naeem, stand out in this picture. But 24 hours after the press conference, the Taliban media arm Al Hijrat has dedicated a video with epic tones in which Muhajid always appears surrounded by his own in a leadership position, wrapped up to the table from which he responded to the reporters, with great ease,but always helped by a translator for questions in English.