The Taliban leader in Afghanistan, Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, has launched a large-scale purge to establish complete ideological and administrative control over state institutions. Under this process, 1,136 government employees hired during the previous government have been dismissed, while 1,555 Taliban-linked loyalists have been appointed to various government departments.
According to sources, after the Taliban took power, Mullah Hibatullah introduced a comprehensive policy in January 2022 under which the curriculum of educational institutions across the country, including Kabul University, was changed. The new curriculum was aligned with the Taliban’s hardline, regressive traditions to ensure full ideological control over the state structure. During this process, scientific, social, and modern subjects were either completely removed or severely restricted.
Sources say that a total of 51 subjects were removed from Dari, Pashto, and social studies textbooks. In religious education, only the Deobandi school of thought within the Hanafi jurisprudence has been allowed, and that too under specific interpretations. Followers of other schools of thought have effectively been excluded. Even within the Hanafi school, only those views are considered acceptable that align with Mullah Hibatullah and his close circle.
The Taliban government aims to create a generation fully aligned with its ideological goals. For this purpose, educated Taliban-linked youth were given direct admission to universities without formal academic qualifications. According to sources, these admissions were limited to Pashtun and Kandahari Taliban elements.
Three years later, on January 17, 2026, an order was issued under which the 1,555 selected Taliban members who had completed education under this special curriculum were appointed to various ministries and departments. On the same day, 1,136 government employees were removed from their jobs. Sources say these dismissals were not due to corruption or crimes, but only because they had been appointed during the previous government, to make room for Taliban loyalists.
It is further reported that remaining vacant posts created over the past year due to retirements, deaths, or earlier dismissals will also be filled with Taliban-affiliated individuals. The supervision of this entire process and ideological training has been entrusted to the Minister of Higher Education, Maulvi Nida Mohammad Nadeem, who is Mullah Hibatullah’s son-in-law and is considered a hardliner.
According to sources, on Nadeem’s recommendation, the Taliban leadership announced on December 22, 2025, the abolition of 90,000 government posts, while at the same time deciding to create 100,000 new posts for Taliban ideological seminaries.
Analysts say these steps are a systematic attempt to bring the Afghan state structure completely under Taliban ideological control. As a result, professional capacity will further decline, and Afghanistan may move even deeper towards isolation, extremism, and instability.
Read more: Reports of Ethnic and Linguistic Discrimination Persist Despite Taliban Denial
