Secluded in his stronghold in southern Afghanistan, reclusive Taliban Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada is the cornerstone of the movement that has ruled the country unchallenged since reclaiming power in 2021,

An Afghan women’s group on Friday hailed a decision by the International Criminal Court to arrest Taliban leaders for their persecution of women. The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor Karim Khan announced Thursday he had requested arrest warrants for two top Taliban officials,

The Taliban’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs refuted the warrants as “devoid of just legal basis, duplicitous in nature and politically motivated.” The strongly worded English-language statement follows Thursday’s announcement by the chief ICC prosecutor that he was seeking arrest warrants for the reclusive Akhundzada and Abdul Hakim Haqqani,