TALIBAN leader Hibatullah Akhundzada said on Sunday there was no need for Western laws in Afghanistan and that democracy was dead, as long as sharia laws are in effect.

He made the comments in a sermon marking the Islamic holiday of Eid Al-Fitr, in the southern city of Kandahar’s Eidgah Mosque. 

The 50-minute audio of his message was published on X by the Taliban government’s chief spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid.