The reports of division among the Taliban leadership and the raising questions about the unity within the group which took over Afghanistan last month are on the rise.

However, Al Jazeera reported that the public’s doubts about the unity of groups only increased earlier this month, when Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the deputy prime minister, seemed to have disappeared from public view.

As he reappeared again, it was in a pre-recorded video. Baradar was clearly seen reading from some sort of a statement and said that his fading from the public eye was the result of travel, and that the Taliban, “have compassion among ourselves, more than a family”.

In a final bid to ease suspicions about his death or injury, on Monday, Baradar was photographed attending a meeting with officials of the United Nations. However, Al Jazeera quoted diplomatic and political sources and said that the discord among the Taliban leadership is real, adding that if the disharmony grows, it will spell further trouble for the Afghan people.

Also read: Taliban founder says executions and amputations will return in Afghanistan

Al Jazeera reported a writer and reporter who has spent several years covering the Taliban said the divisions are the result of a political-military divide.

According to reports, it is said that the effects of that rift extend from the halls of power to the streets, where the Taliban fighters have been going through major cities and forcefully taking the belongings of former officials and their families.

“Right now, all they care about is taking people’s cars and houses,” Al Jazeera reported a source as saying.

This is despite the deputy minister of information and culture, Zabihullah Mujahid, saying two days after the Taliban took over the country that “we have instructed everyone not to enter anybody’s house, whether they’re civilians or military”.

Sources told Al Jazeera that as with other Afghan governments, the divisions among the Taliban fall along personality lines. But unlike previous administrations, the Taliban does not just suffer from overly ambitious members or opposing political views, its split is much more fundamental.

Also read: US, Pakistan discuss way forward in Afghanistan

Presently, the Taliban, say the sources, is made up of fighters still awaiting the spoils of war versus politicians who want to assuage the fears of the Afghan people and the international community.

What is diplomatic recognition?

Several nations have expressed their unwillingness to accept the Taliban government in Afghanistan. On Wednesday, the five permanent UN Security Council members asked the Taliban to be more inclusive.

Afghanistan has been facing backslash as the country is cut off from international financial organisations, while the United States froze more than $9 billion in funds after the Taliban took over the country.

Another point of contention for the two factions is the role of regional neighbours – Pakistan and Iran – which have long been accused of supporting the Taliban during its 20-year armed rebellion.

Suspicions of Pakistan rose when the chief of Pakistan’s spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), visited Kabul just before the announcement of the cabinet. The reporter said General Faiz Hameed called for a more inclusive government, which would make room for Shia Muslims and women, but that the hardliners, already suspicious of Islamabad, refused.

Meanwhile, several Taliban leaders were allegedly upset with their positions in the new administration in the Afghanistan government.