Khalifa Seraj Haqqani, the Emirate Interior Minister and key factional leader, showed himself in public seven weeks after the last official word of his whereabouts.  In his speech, in Khost, Seraj renewed his criticism of the Taliban Amir and made an implicit call for the Amir’s replacement.  Michael and Tamim discuss the unprecedented divisions within the Taliban movement and explain the ideological and material factors underpinning them.  They consider the movement’s prospects for maintaining unity while such senior figures question the Amir’s fitness to lead.  

Podcast produced by Colm Heatley.