The Taliban is facing an internal revolt over women’s rights that has become public and could lead to a full-blown conflict in Afghanistan, The Telegraph can reveal.

Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, the country’s supreme leader, is battling a rebellion from senior cabinet ministers over his ban on girls’ education and restrictions on women’s economic participation.

Akhundzada, who has led the Taliban since 2016 and is now Afghanistan’s de-facto leader, is at odds with Sirajuddin Haqqani, the interior minister, Mullah Yaqoob, the defence minister, and Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, the deputy foreign minister, who all want the Taliban to be more progressive.

Stanikzai has fled to Dubai after his criticism of the supreme leader led to an arrest warrant being issued, while Haqqani is also thought to be out of the country.

Now, Akhundzada has deployed soldiers to Kabul airport to stop other high-ranking officials from leaving.

Akhundzada, who is rarely seen in public and has almost no digital footprint, is facing his biggest crisis since the Taliban swept into power after the chaotic withdrawal of the US from the country in August 2021.