On August 24, 2021, Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid (C) delivered a speech during a press conference in Kabul, Afghanistan. (Photo: Sayed Khodaiberdi Sadat/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
On Tuesday, the Taliban appointed Mullah Hassan Ahund, an assistant to the late founder of the movement, Mullah Omar, as the head of the new Afghan government, and Mullah Abdul Ghani Ba, the head of the movement’s political office. Ladar is the deputy.
The Taliban’s main spokesperson, Zabihullah Mujahid, said at a press conference in Kabul that Sarajadin Haqqani, the son of the founder of the Haqqani Network, designated by the United States as a terrorist organization, will serve as the new Minister of the Interior.
Mullah Omar’s son Mullah Mohamed Yakoub was appointed Minister of Defense. Mujahid said at a press conference in Kabul that all appointments were made as agents.
Since the collapse of the Western-backed government and the Taliban’s occupation of Kabul last month, it is unclear what role the Taliban leader Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada will play in the government.
The appointment of a group of prominent personalities from different elements of the hardline Islamic movement did not indicate any concessions to the protests that broke out in Kabul earlier in the day when Taliban gunmen shot into the air to disperse them.
The Taliban have repeatedly tried to assure Afghanistan and foreign countries that they will not return to the brutal state of their last rule 20 years ago, which is characterized by violent punishment and the prohibition of women and girls from participating in public life.
