Taliban announce hardline temp govt
The Taliban announced their new government yesterday, with a UN-blacklisted veteran of the hardline movement in the top role, after the group swept to power in a lightning offensive which toppled the US-backed president.
The announcement came as protests were growing against Taliban rule, with two people shot dead in the western city of Herat yesterday, a doctor told AFP.
The Islamists, notorious for their brutal and oppressive rule during their first stint in power from 1996 to 2001, had pledged a more "inclusive" brand of rule as US troops completed their chaotic pullout.
But all the key positions in yesterday's cabinet went to core, veteran players in the movement.
Chief spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told a press conference that the new government would be an interim one, and that veteran official Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund would serve as its new acting prime minister.
He had served as deputy foreign minister under the Taliban's old regime, and is on a UN blacklist.
Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, head of the movement's political office, was appointed as Akhund's deputy, Mujahid said.
Baradar's appointment as Akhund's deputy, rather than to the top job, came as a surprise to some as he had been responsible for negotiating the US withdrawal and presenting the face of the Taliban to the world.
Taliban co-founder Baradar, also once a close friend of Mullah Omar, the founder, was a senior Taliban commander in charge of attacks on US forces. He was arrested and imprisoned in Pakistan in 2010, becoming head of the Taliban's political office in Doha after his release in 2018.
Mullah Yaqoob, the son of Mullah Omar, was named defence minister, while the position of interior minister was given to Sirajuddin Haqqani, the head of the feared Haqqani network who also doubled up as a Taliban deputy.
Haqqani is the son of the founder of the Haqqani network, designated as a terrorist organisation by the United States. He is one of the FBI's most wanted men due to his involvement in suicide attacks and ties with al-Qaeda.
It was not clear what role in the government would be played by Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, the Taliban supreme leader.
Shortly after the announcement of the new lineup, Akhundzada made his first statement since his movement's stunning takeover of Afghanistan, saying that the new government would "work hard towards upholding Islamic rules and sharia law".
Akhund, the new head of government, has been close to supreme leader Akhunzada for 20 years, and is longtime chief of the Taliban's powerful decision-making body Rehbari Shura, or leadership council. He was foreign minister and then deputy prime minister when the Taliban were last in power from 1996-2001.
Following their 20-year insurgency, the Taliban now face the colossal task of ruling Afghanistan, which is wracked with economic woes and security challenges -- including from the Islamic State group's local chapter.
In what appeared to be a fresh sign that the Taliban are seeking to appease sceptics, Mujahid said the government -- as yet incomplete -- would only have an interim role.
"We will try to take people from other parts of the country," he said. He said some ministries remained to be filled pending a hunt for qualified people.
One analyst told AFP, however, that the new lineup was far removed from the softer brand of rule the movement had pledged.
"It's not at all inclusive, and that's no surprise whatsoever," said Michael Kugelman, a South Asia expert at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
"The Taliban had never indicated that any of its cabinet ministers would include anyone other than themselves."
Washington said meanwhile it was in "no rush" to recognise the new government.
"It's really going to be dependent on what steps the Taliban takes," White House spokesperson Jen Psaki said.
"The world will be watching, the United States included."
Scattered protests in recent days have indicated that some Afghans do not believe in the Taliban's capacity to translate their promise of a more moderate rule into reality.
In Herat, scores of demonstrators marched, unfurling banners and waving the old Afghan flag -- a black, red and green vertical tricolour with the national emblem overlaid in white.
Taliban militants opened fire to disperse the crowds who had gathered to protest against Pakistan -- seen widely as a backer of Afghanistan's new rulers.
Two bodies were brought to the city's central hospital from the site of the protest, a doctor in Herat told AFP on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.
"They all have bullet wounds," he said.
Videos posted on social media of a separate rally showed more than a hundred people marching through the streets of Kabul under the watchful eye of armed Taliban members.
Demonstrations have also been held in smaller cities in recent days, where women have demanded to be part of a new government.
General Mobin, a Taliban official in charge of security in the capital, told AFP he had been called to the scene by guards who said that "women were creating a disruption".
"These protesters are gathered based only on the conspiracy of foreign intelligence," he claimed.
An Afghan journalist covering the demonstration told AFP his press ID and camera were confiscated by the Taliban.
Later, the Kabul-based Afghan Independent Journalists Association said 14 journalists -- Afghan and foreign -- were detained briefly during the protests before being released. Images shared online showed reporters with cuts and bruises to their hands and knees.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the Taliban had reiterated a pledge to allow Afghans to freely depart Afghanistan.
US President Joe Biden has faced mounting pressure amid reports that several hundred people, including Americans, have been prevented for a week from flying out of an airport in northern Afghanistan.
On Monday, the Taliban claimed victory in the Panjshir valley, the last province holding out against it.
Pictures on social media showed Taliban members standing in front of the Panjshir governor's compound after days of fighting with the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRFA), commanded by Panjshiri leader Ahmad Massoud.
Massoud, from an undisclosed location, denied that his force, consisting of remnants of the Afghan army as well as local militia fighters, was beaten, and tweeted that "our resistance will continue".
There were reports about the escape of Massoud and Ex-vice president of the last government Amrullah Saleh to Tajikistan.
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