Taliban spokesperson’s real identity revealed after 25 years.
Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban’s chief spokesperson, has revealed for the first time that “Zabihullah Mujahid” is not his real name and that he adopted the pseudonym about 25 years ago for his activities.
He made the revelation in an interview with a BBC correspondent based in Kandahar. The interview was published today, Monday, 2 Asad, during which Mujahid explained his long-standing use of the pseudonym.
According to the report, the Taliban spokesperson’s real name is Tahir Shah Sediqi. For roughly two and a half decades, he has operated under the name “Zabihullah Mujahid” as one of the Taliban’s spokespersons, continuing to use the name after the group returned to power.
Mujahid is now one of the Taliban’s main figures in dealings with both domestic and international media and is responsible for communicating many of the group’s official positions to the press.
In the interview, he did not clarify whether other senior Taliban officials also operate under pseudonyms or how many senior members of the group use false identities.
There have previously been reports that some Taliban officials have used identity documents and passports bearing names different from those by which they are commonly known. Such measures have reportedly been used in some cases to circumvent security restrictions.
Rahmatullah Nabil, Afghanistan’s former intelligence chief, also said in 2023 that a large number of Taliban officials use aliases to evade security restrictions.
Among them, reports have claimed that Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour, the former Taliban leader, travelled to several Arab countries using Pakistani identity documents and a passport issued under the name Wali Mohammad.
There have also been reports that Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban’s Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, used the Pakistani alias Mohammad Arif Agha. According to those reports, he lived and operated under this identity for years.
Writer:Salima Aryaei
