Taliban form all-male Afghan government of old guard members

3 years ago 280

KABUL – The Taliban connected Tuesday announced an all-male interim authorities for Afghanistan stacked with veterans of their hard-line regularisation from the 1990s and the 20-year conflict against the U.S.-led coalition, a determination that seems improbable to triumph the planetary enactment the caller leaders desperately request to debar an economical meltdown.

Appointed to the cardinal station of interior curate was Sirajuddin Haqqani, who is connected the FBI’s most-wanted database with a $5 cardinal bounty connected his caput and is believed to inactive beryllium holding astatine slightest 1 American hostage. He headed the feared Haqqani web that is blamed for galore deadly attacks and kidnappings.

The announcement came hours aft Taliban fired their guns into the aerial to disperse protesters successful the superior of Kabul and arrested respective journalists, the 2nd clip successful little than a week that heavy-handed tactics were utilized to interruption up a demonstration.

Drawn mostly from Afghanistan’s ascendant Pashtun taste group, the Cabinet's deficiency of practice from different taste groups besides seems definite to hobble its enactment from abroad.

As overmuch arsenic 80% of Afghanistan's fund comes from the planetary community, and a long-running economical situation has worsened successful caller months. Near regular flights from Qatar bring successful humanitarian aid, but the needs are massive, and the Taliban tin hardly spend isolation.

In announcing the Cabinet, Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid emphasized that the appointments were temporary. He did not accidental however agelong they would service and what would beryllium the catalyst for a change.

Since taking implicit Afghanistan successful mid-August aft U.S. troops withdrew, the Taliban person shown nary indications they volition clasp elections.

The interim premier minister, Mullah Hasan Akhund, besides headed the Taliban authorities successful Kabul during the past years of its rule. Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, who had led talks with the U.S. and signed the woody that led to the withdrawal, volition beryllium 1 of 2 deputies to Akhund.

A argumentation connection accompanying the Cabinet announcement sought to allay fears of Afghanistan's neighbors and the remainder of the world, but was improbable to calm the fears of women, who didn't get a azygous post.

“Our connection to our neighbors, the portion and the satellite is that Afghanistan's ungraded volition not beryllium utilized against the information of immoderate different country,” the connection said.

It urged overseas diplomats, embassies, consulates and humanitarian organizations to instrumentality to Afghanistan. “Their beingness is the request of our country,” it said.

The connection spoke of protecting the rights of minorities and the underprivileged, and it promised acquisition “to each countrymen wrong the model of Sharia.” Women were not mentioned successful the three-page statement.

Abdul Salam Hanafi, an taste Uzbek, was named arsenic 2nd lawman to Hasan Akhund. A long-time Taliban member, helium is improbable to fulfill demands for inclusivity and number representation.

Besides Haqqani arsenic caput of the police, the different apical information station of defence curate went to Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob , the lad of Taliban laminitis and adjacent mythic fig Mullah Mohammad Omar.

The Haqqani network, which dominates astir of eastbound Afghanistan, has been blamed for melodramatic attacks successful Kabul successful the past 2 decades and for orchestrating kidnappings, often of Americans. Washington believes it inactive holds Mark Frerichs, a civilian contractor, who was abducted successful January 2020 and hasn’t been heard from since.

The caller overseas curate volition beryllium Amir Khan Muttaqi, different salient fig from the Taliban's past clip successful power. He faces a hard task, fixed the Cabinet's deficiency of diversity.

The Cabinet enactment defied the galore voices that had urged inclusivity and moderation. Instead, it seemed to beryllium a bow to the Taliban's tens of thousands of fighters, who would person struggled to judge figures from erstwhile governments that they spot arsenic corrupt and that they judge they were called upon to oust.

“The fighters made the sacrifices. ... They are the determination makers, not the politicians,” said expert and writer Fazelminallah Qazizai, who has has written extensively astir the Taliban.

Yet adjacent with a Cabinet dominated by taste Pashtuns, the Taliban’s warring unit would look to person already attained immoderate diversity, with their ranks bolstered considerably by taste Tajiks and Uzbeks. That whitethorn person helped manus the Taliban a astonishing triumph successful the mostly Tajik state of Badakhshan, which they overran with hardly a fight. When they past ruled, the state was the lone 1 they failed to control.

At Tuesday's objection that was breached up by gunfire, protesters had gathered extracurricular the Pakistani Embassy to impeach Islamabad of aiding the Taliban's battle connected bluish Panjshir province. The Taliban said Monday they seized the state — the past 1 not successful their power — aft their lightning beforehand done Afghanistan past month.

Afghanistan's erstwhile authorities routinely accused neighboring Pakistan of aiding the Taliban, a complaint Islamabad has denied.

Dozens of women were among the protesters, and immoderate carried signs bemoaning the sidesplitting of their sons by Taliban fighters that they accidental were aided by Pakistan. One motion read: “I americium a mother. When you termination my son, you termination a portion of me.”

At 1 point, a Taliban combatant responded: "We person announced amnesty to everyone who has killed our sons."

The Taliban moved rapidly and harshly to extremity the protestation arsenic demonstrators arrived adjacent the statesmanlike palace. They fired their weapons into the aerial and arrested respective journalists covering the demonstration. At 1 point, a Taliban subordinate waving a Kalashnikov firearm took a microphone from a writer and began beating him with it. The writer was aboriginal handcuffed and detained for respective hours.

“This is the 3rd clip I person been beaten by the Taliban covering protests,” the writer told The Associated Press, speaking connected information helium not beryllium identified due to the fact that helium feared retaliation. “I won’t spell again to screen a demonstration. It’s excessively hard for me.”

A writer from Afghanistan’s fashionable TOLO News was detained for 3 hours by the Taliban earlier being freed. He was fixed backmost his instrumentality and his video of the objection was intact.

On Saturday, Taliban peculiar forces successful camouflage fired their weapons into the aerial to extremity a protestation march successful Kabul by women demanding adjacent rights.

—-

Associated Press writers Tameem Akhgar and Rahim Faiez successful Istanbul contributed.

Read Entire Article