On 7 May 2020 he was appointed head of the Taliban military commission, replacing Sadr and making Yaqoob the insurgents' military chief.[7] On 29 May 2020, influential senior Taliban commander Mualana Muhammad Ali Jan Ahmed told Foreign Policy that Yaqoob became the acting leader to the entire Taliban after Akhundzada became infected with COVID-19, stating "Our hero, the son of our great leader, Mullah Yaqoob, is running the entire Taliban operation in Haibatullah's absence."[8]