The Taliban appoints Ahund as head of the new Afghan government

The Taliban have appointed Taliban veteran Mullah Mohammad Hasan Ahund as head of the new Afghan interim government.

During the first Taliban regime in the 1990s, Ahund was the governor of Kandahar Province. The AFP news agency found that he was a close associate of the Taliban co-founder Mullah Omar.

Taliban spokesman Zabihulla Mujahide said at a press conference that Mullah Abdulgani Baradar, co-founder of the radical Islamist movement Taliban, will be deputy head of government.

Mullah Mohammad Jakub, the son of another Taliban co-founder, Mullah Ohmar, will take over the post of defense minister, while Sirajudin Hakani, the leader of the Haqqani group, has also been appointed interior minister.

Amir Hans Mutaki, a Taliban negotiator in Doha, has also been appointed Foreign Minister and served on the government of the first Taliban regime.

It is not yet known whether and what role Hibatullah Ahundzada, the Taliban’s top religious leader, will play in the new government.

However, he has issued a statement saying the new government will abide by Sharia law.

Mujahideen said the government was not yet fully formed, but it was functioning.

He named 33 words and announced that the remaining posts would be filled gradually, after careful consideration.

“We will try to involve people from other parts of the country,” he added.

Following the withdrawal of the US and other foreign military contingents from Afghanistan, the Taliban launched a general offensive operation in August and briefly seized almost the entire territory of the country, but on August 15, the capital, Kabul, fell into their hands.

The only province in Afghanistan that had not come under Taliban control until recently was Punjab, but the Taliban leadership announced Monday that the Islamist movement had also taken over the province.

Following the seizure of power, the Taliban promised to form an inclusive government representing the various ethnic groups in Afghanistan, but they appear to have deviated from that promise. All appointed members of the government belong to the Taliban and most belong to the Pashtun tribe.

The Taliban also promised to include women in the government, but there was no real prospect that women would hold senior positions. The Ministry of Women’s Affairs is currently banned.

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