Abdul Kabir, the Taliban’s acting minister of refugees, hosted Taliban Siraj Haqqani, Taliban’s acting interior minister who was absent from Eid prayer gatherings, and other senior Taliban officials at the Sapidar Palace during Eid al-Adha celebrations. The meeting was centered on security coordination and governance matters, signaling Kabir’s influence within the Haqqani faction of the Taliban and highlighting their internal rifts .
Kabir welcomed Haqqani and several provincial police commanders into the lavish palace — a venue increasingly identified as his political base. Though nominally in charge of refugee affairs, Kabir used the gathering to discuss matters beyond his official remit, according to sources who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Photos released by the Taliban-run refugee ministry showed the ministers and officials walking through grand corridors, with exchange of respectful greetings and animated conversation. Political observers suggest the gathering was a tangible expression of Kabir’s proximity to the Haqqani faction — long rumored to challenge the more Kandahar-aligned leadership of Taliban supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada.
Earlier during Eid, Kabir had officiated a separate prayer ceremony at Sapidar Palace attended by foreign diplomats and senior Taliban figures — a move that underscored his unofficial authority. Meanwhile, the officially managed ceremony took place at the Arg, the Taliban’s presidential compound, which is closely associated with Akhundzada’s inner circle.
Political analyst Wahid Faqiri, referring to Kabir’s refusal to vacate Sapidar even months after losing a previous position, remarked: “Abdul Kabir’s continued presence at Sapidar shows how internal rifts within the Taliban have deepened. Ministers in Kabul hold only symbolic power now.”
Over the past three years, observers have tracked expanding internal friction among Taliban leaders. Though Akhundzada has repeatedly called for unity, factions linked to the Haqqani network, such as Kabir and Haqqani himself, have publicly pressed for a more active security-focused governance model — one that often directly challenges the Kandahar-dominated power base.
Though the Taliban administration clings to a veneer of cohesion, the Eid-era events at Sapidar Palace reveal the true depth of political fragmentation, analysts said.
