Afghanistan supreme leader link appeared publicly for only the second time in six years on Sunday, telling worshippers celebrating Eidul Fitr that the Taliban had achieved freedom and security since seizing power last year.
Speaking just two days after a bomb ripped through a mosque in Kabul, an atmosphere of heightened security surrounded the man introduced as Hibatullah Akhundzada, the chief of the Taliban.
"Congratulations on victory, freedom and success," he told thousands of worshippers at the Eidgah mosque in the southern city of Kandahar, the group's de facto power centre.
"Congratulations on this security and for the Islamic system."