Mohammad Hasan Akhund will head the Taliban’s acting government in Afghanistan while the group’s co-founder Abdul Ghani Baradar will be the deputy Afghan leader, Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid announced on Tuesday.
Taliban’s deputy leader Sirajuddin Haqqani will be the acting interior minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi will be the acting foreign minister, political chief Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai will be the acting deputy foreign minister and Mullah Yaqoob will be the acting defence minister, he announced during a press conference in Kabul.
The heads of various other ministries will be appointed soon, Mujahid added.
“All groups have been represented in the cabinet,” he said.
The Taliban spokesperson said Afghanistan had “gained freedom”, stressing that “only the will of Afghans” will be applicable in the country.
“After today, no one will be able to interfere in Afghanistan,” he emphasised.
Mujahid said that the Taliban had been in contact with various countries and their envoys had visited Afghanistan.
In response to a question, the spokesperson said the country will now be called the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.
Mujahid said there was no fighting in Panjshir, the last holdout of anti-Taliban forces in the country and the only province the Taliban had not seized during their blitz across Afghanistan last month.
Separately, in a written statement, Acting Prime Minister Mohammad Hasan Akhund congratulated Afghans for the “withdrawal of all foreign forces, end of the occupation and complete liberation of the country”.
A caretaker and “committed” cabinet had been announced which will start working at the earliest, he said, adding that the leaders will “work hard towards upholding Islamic rules and Sharia (Islamic law) in the country, protecting the country’s highest interests, securing Afghanistan’s borders, and ensuring lasting peace, prosperity and development”.
All governance and life in the country will henceforth be in accordance with Islamic law, Akhund said.
“We want to have a peaceful, prosperous and self-reliant Afghanistan, for which we will strive to eliminate all causes of war and strife in the country, and [for] our countrymen to live in complete security and comfort.”
Furthermore, the Taliban wanted to have “strong and healthy” relations with all countries based on mutual respect, he said.
“We are committed to all international laws and treaties, resolutions and commitments that are not in conflict with Islamic law and the country’s national values,” Akhund stressed.
He also emphasised that the interim government will take “serious and effective steps” to protect human rights as well as the rights of minorities and underprivileged groups within the framework of the demands of Islam.
The Taliban who swept to power last month, have been expected to announce a government since the United States-led evacuation was completed at the end of August.
They have promised an “inclusive” government that represents Afghanistan’s complex ethnic makeup — though women are unlikely to be included at the top levels.
As they transition from insurgency group to governing power, the Taliban have a series of major issues to address, including looming financial and humanitarian crises.
‘INEFFECTIVE AND UNREASONABLE’:
Mullah Akhund, the chief of the Taliban’s powerful decision-making body ‘Rehbari Shura’, was “considered one of the most ineffective and unreasonable Taliban leaders”, according to American intelligence records detailing his career.
Akhund, who is on the UN terror list, belongs to Kandahar, the birthplace of the Taliban, and was among the founders of the armed movement. He worked for 20 years as head of Rehbari Shura and remained close to Mullah Hebatullah. He had served as foreign minister and deputy prime minister during the Taliban’s previous government in Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001.
Although, he seems to have no power equation in Afghanistan or Taliban politics, he is a hardliner who is alleged to have supervised the destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas in March 2001 and been part of several militant killings.
Likely born in the village of Pashmul, in Kandahar province’s Argandab, Hassan is believed to have been educated at a seminary in Pakistan, before joining the Hizb-e-Islami’s Khalees faction during the war against the Soviet Union. Like others, though, he retreated back to Pakistan in 1989-1992, as ferocious struggles broke out within the Mujahideen over control of revenues and territory.
He was also the governor of Kandahar, vice president of the Council of Ministers in 2001. According to the UN he is one of “30 original Taliban”
According to Washington DC based, National Security Archive, “Akhund holds prejudices against both westerners and the mujahadeen. Considered one of the most effective commanders. Studied at various madrassas in Pakistan.”
By 2001 he rose in the ranks, to supervise the ministries of defence, intelligence, interior, supreme court, culture and communications, academy.
He was also reported to have been captured in 2010. He is considered to be a relatively lesser known Taliban leader and is referred to as “lightweight” in several media reports.
