Mullah Barkatullah Burhani, cleric under the Republic: Was he a Taliban spy?
Sources say Mullah Barkatullah Burhani, a member of the Council of Ulema in Takhar during the former Republic and now director of Taliban intelligence media in Takhar province, was among the clerics who regularly received financial incentives from the previous government.
Official documents from Takhar indicate that Burhani and other clerics received monthly payments for supporting the Republic, and sources say some recipients later played covert roles collaborating with the Taliban.
For some clerics, these payments amounted to up to 12,000 Afghanis per month, with additional operational funds from the Provincial Police and National Security Directorate.
Sources emphasize that these payments were approved by the provincial governor and continued without interruption until the Republic’s collapse.
Sources involved note that these incentives had no legal basis, but the previous government continued them due to the clerics’ social influence and political considerations.
Some clerics who received these payments were simultaneously connected with the Taliban and later recognized as collaborators or spies, with public ignorance allowing exploitation of religious trust for political and personal gain.
