The incarcerated leader told the conference that Afghanistan “cannot develop without being independent,” according to state news agency Bakhtar.
“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 his speech, Akhundzada praised the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan last August, almost two decades after being expelled from Kabul by US troops, saying: “The success of Afghan jihad it is not only a source of pride for Afghans, but also for all Muslims around the world. “
The rapid takeover, a few weeks after the start of the withdrawal of American troops, took the world by surprise and led to the dissolution of the foreign-backed government of Ashraf Ghani, which he had fled the country.
Akhundzada made the comments on an audio recording during a three-day religious meeting of 3,000 attendees, all of them men, according to state media. The meeting was not open to the media, but CNN listened to the recording of Akhundzada’s speech.
The meeting in Kabul began on Thursday. Akhundzada is headquartered in Kandahar, the birthplace and spiritual center of the Taliban, rarely photographed in public, which has fueled 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 of the Taliban’s founding generation, Akhundzada, was named Taliban leader in 2016 after the group’s previous leader, mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour, was assassinated in a U.S. airstrike on Pakistan.
He held office when the group announced its interim government in September.
Akhundzada ruled out including past administrations in the formation of any future government, although he said he “forgave” them.
“I forgave the oppressors of the old regime. I do not hold them responsible for their past actions, if someone created problems for them without committing new crimes, I will punish them. However, forgiving does not mean taking them to government.” Akhundzada said on the audio recording.
The message seemed to contradict statements made by other members of the Taliban leadership in recent months, who have expressed their openness to a more inclusive government in order to gain international support.
The international community has repeatedly called on the Taliban to expand their government ranks and restore the rights of women and girls, who have been stripped since the group came to power, if they want to be officially recognized. The World Bank has frozen hundreds of millions of dollars worth of projects on this issue.
Women in Afghanistan can no longer work in most sectors and require a male tutor to travel long distances, while girls have been banned from returning to high school. Sirajuddin Haqqani, Afghanistan’s acting interior minister and deputy co-leader of the Taliban since 2016, told CNN in May that there would be “good news soon” on the Taliban’s still unfulfilled commitment to allow the girls to return. at school, but suggested that women protesting The regime’s restrictions on women’s rights should stay at home.
During an urgent meeting in Geneva on Friday, UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet warned that “women and girls in Afghanistan are experiencing the most significant and rapid setback in the enjoyment of their rights in general level in decades “.
Speaking to the clergy, Akhundzada reaffirmed his commitment to the implementation of Sharia law, the legal system of Islam derived from the Qur’an, while expressing his opposition to the “way of life of unbelievers. “.
The Taliban’s harsh interpretation of Sharia law when he last came to power led to numerous violent punishments, including the stoning of alleged adulterers, public executions and amputations.