Hibatullah Akhundzada

**Hibatullah Akhundzada** (; born 1967) is an Afghan politician, soldier, scholar, cleric, and jurist who is the 2nd and the current Supreme Leader of Afghanistan since 2021 and as well as the 3rd Leader of the Taliban since 2016 following a drone that strike killed his predecessor, Akhtar Mansour. Since the Fall of Kabul in August 2021, Akhundzada became Afghanistan's Supreme Leader with absolute powers over the country.

In 2020, he sent Abdul Ghani Baradar to Doha to hold peace talks with the U.S. by meeting the then-U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo where they signed the US–Taliban Deal which made the U.S agree to Withdraw its Troops from Afghanistan.

Akhundzada also held a phone conversation with then-U.S. President, Donald Trump the same year where they agreed to have diplomatic relationships with the two countries if Trump won the election even though it never happened as Trump lost the election. However, while announcing the talk, Trump did not mention Akhundzada's name. In July 2021, while recalling his phone conversation with Akhundzada, Trump got his name wrong referring to Akhundzada as "Mohammed" rather than "Hibatullah".

Akhundzada led the Taliban to victory against the Afghan government in a 2021 military offensive—while the U.S. withdrawal was still underway—then became Afghanistan’s absolute ruler and imposed a totalitarian Islamist government. His government has been criticized for sweeping infringements on human rights, including the rights of women and girls to work and education. On his orders, the Taliban administration has prevented most teenage girls from returning to secondary school education. In July 2022, while attending a religious gathering in Kabul, Akhundzada lashed out at the demands of the international community on his government, ruling out any talks or compromise on his "Islamic system" of governance.

## Infobox (officeholder)

- **name**: Hibatullah Akhundzada
- **native name lang**: ps
- **office**: 2nd Supreme Leader of Afghanistan
- **primeminister**: Hasan Akhund
- **term start**: 15 August 2021
- **office1**: 3rd Leader of the Taliban
- **term start1**: 25 May 2016
Acting: 21–25 May 2016
- **predecessor1**: Akhtar Mansour
- **office2**: 4th Deputy Leader of the Taliban, First Deputy Leader of the Taliban
- **term start2**: 29 July 2015
- **term end2**: 25 May 2016
Serving with Sirajuddin Haqqani
- **predecessor2**: Akhtar Mansour
- **successor2**: Sirajuddin Haqqani
- **office3**: 2nd Chief Justice of Afghanistan, Chief Justice of the Taliban
- **term end3**: 25 May 2016
- **predecessor3**: Noor Mohammad Saqib
- **successor3**: Abdul Hakim Ishaqzai
- **office4**: Head of the Judiciary of Afghanistan, Eastern Zone Military Court
- **leader4**: Mohammed Omar
- **office5**: Head of the Judiciary of Afghanistan, Military Court of Kabul
- **leader5**: Mohammed Omar
- **birth place**: Nakhuni, Panjwayi District, Kandahar Province, Kingdom of Afghanistan
- **party**: Taliban (1994–present)
- **parents**: Muhammad Akhund (Father)
- **occupation**: Politician, Soldier
- **profession**: Religious studies, Scholar, Cleric, Jurist
- **blank1**: Ethnicity
- **data1**: Pashtun
- **blank2**: Religion
- **data2**: Sunni Islam
- **blank3**: Movement
- **data3**: Deobandi
- **residence**: Kandahar
- **serviceyears**: 1987–present
- **rank**:  Marshal
- **commands**: Afghan Army
- **battles**: *Afghan conflict
**Soviet–Afghan War
**Afghan Civil War (1989–1992)
**Afghan Civil War (1992–1996)
**Afghan Civil War (1996–2001)
**War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)