Layeha—the Code of Conduct of the Taliban

Abstract

In 2006, the Taliban movement issued a Code of Conduct called the Jihadi Layeha for the first time.1 Layeha stands for rule or program in Arabic,2 and its existence was first reported in a Swiss weekly in November 2006.3 The journal also featured an interview with a Taliban governor, according to whom the Layeha was first distributed at a one-day strategic meeting in a bunker of a mosque “somewhere in a mountainous area” during Ramadan in 2006.4 In July 2009, Al Jazeera then reported a second version of the Layeha, which is more detailed and elaborated in content along a clearer structure than the previous one.5 Finally, a third edition of the Layeha appeared in 2010 with further amendments and new provisions.6 How is the Layeha to be interpreted in the light of the Taliban’s legitimization strategy?