Projects Named After Mullah Omar Halted in Kandahar Amid Taliban Leadership Disputes

Taliban sources told Afghanistan International that work on projects launched under the name of Mullah Omar, the Taliban's founder, in Kandahar has stopped. These projects, left incomplete due to disputes among Taliban leaders, include the Umar Farooq Complex, reconstruction of the central Eidgah, a school, and a saray.

The Umar Farooq Complex, the largest project, features a mosque with capacity for 14,000 worshippers and a religious school; its foundation stone was laid by Mullah Omar. Reconstruction of the central Eidgah in Kandahar remains unfinished with no progress.

A person close to Mullah Omar, who holds no official position, said budgets for these projects were approved multiple times but work was never allowed to begin. Sources indicated delays stem from deliberate neglect and political disputes at the Taliban leadership level. During the previous government, budgets for the Umar Farooq Complex were approved twice and some construction advanced before halting.

One source said 1.5 years after the Taliban's return to power, Mullah Yaqub Mujahid, the Defense Minister and son of Mullah Omar, requested 50 million afghanis for the project, but the funds were not executed and much was spent on other religious schools. Sources close to Mullah Yaqub said another 50 million afghanis from the Defense Ministry was allocated but diverted to madrasas under various pretexts, due to lack of serious interest in completing the Umar Farooq project.

Sources linked the situation to deep disputes between Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada and Mullah Yaqub, noting their relations are cold and they rarely meet, impacting the projects.

Meanwhile, local sources said Hibatullah Akhundzada and other senior officials are building schools, mosques, and facilities in their own names in Kandahar. In the Commandos area of the 10th district, state land near Akhundzada's family residence, a large garden, school, and mosque are under construction, mostly complete. Taliban Deputy Defense Minister Mullah Fazl Mazlum built a costly madrasa in the 7th district near the historic Mandigak fortress. Mullah Baradar, deputy economic head of the prime minister's office, is spending millions on a school in Daman district. Haji Bisher Nurzai, a close associate of Akhundzada, is funding a new Eidgah in Miywand district at around $1 million.

Relatives of Mullah Omar said these projects proceed while his namesake initiatives stall, with many of his close associates holding no official roles or only symbolic positions.