KABUL: The main spokesman for Afghanis­tan’s Taliban administration will move his office from the capital to the city of Kandahar, the information ministry said, a sign of the growing importance of the region that is home to its supreme leader.

The province of Kandahar is the historical birthplace of the Taliban movement.

Supreme leader Haibatullah Akhundzada lives there and rarely makes public visits to Kabul, about 450 km to the north, where national government offices, the cabinet and the acting prime minister are based.

“Zabihullah Mujahid and Samangani are both transferred to Kandahar,” said Abdul Maten Qanee, a spokesperson for the information ministry, referring to Innamullah Samangani, a deputy spokesman.

It is one of the first known instances of an official in a senior role in the Taliban administration shifting their office from the capital.

The information ministry did not elaborate on the reason for the move but it suggests more prominence for those officials based in Kandahar.

Major decisions, such as restricting the access of girls and women to highschool and university and stopping most female NGO staff from working.

Published in Dawn, April 7th, 2023