Taliban unity shows cracks under Afghanistan's isolation

Group denies rift after high-level figures appear to criticize governance

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The Afghan Taliban's acting Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani: He recently drew attention by warning against "monopolizing power." © Reuters

KANIKA GUPTA, Contributing writer

BERLIN -- Possible signs of friction in Afghanistan's Taliban leadership have forced the group to deny a rift at the top. While experts are not counting on mutiny, some say key leaders' unusually public criticism of the war-torn country's direction marks a significant change for the Islamist group.

Last month, the Taliban's interior minister, Sirajuddin Haqqani, spoke at a graduation ceremony at an Islamic school in Khost province and expressed discontent. "Monopolizing power and damaging the reputation of the whole system [of government] is not in our interest," Haqqani said in the recorded address, which went viral online.

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