Foreign, defense, and interior ministers all filled with Taliban personnel
Baradar, who was a powerful ‘second person’, was acting as deputy prime minister.
“All are temporary agencies,” stressing room for change
Taliban militants who have seized control of Afghanistan stand guard in front of protesters near the Pakistani embassy in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, on the 7th. Kabul = Reuters
The Taliban, an Islamic militant group that has taken over Afghanistan, has announced a cabinet plan ahead of the new government. As the head of the government, Mohammad Hassan Akund, a ‘lightweight person’, was appointed as the government’s head, and all other high-ranking Taliban officials were appointed at the ministerial level. The Taliban claims that it is a form of provisional government with changes in mind, but for now, it is far from the ‘inclusive government’ that it has repeatedly professed.
According to AFP news agency on the 7th (local time), Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid held a press conference on the evening of the same day and announced the cabinet proposal. First, Akund will act as acting prime minister, and Taliban second-in-command Abdul Ghani Baradar will support Hassan as acting deputy prime minister. Akund, a native of Kandahar, is one of the 30 original members of the Taliban in the region. It is also on the United Nations’ terrorist list. For the past 20 years, he has led the Taliban supreme leadership meeting, ‘Labari Shura’, and served as foreign minister and deputy prime minister during the Taliban regime (1996-2001).
Some analysts suggested that the nomination of Akund, which had a rather weak sense of weight, was compromised. It is explained that this is a choice to resolve the power struggle within the Taliban that has recently emerged. The power struggle theory was first raised as the Cabinet announcement and inauguration ceremony were postponed on the 3rd. After that, a gunfight broke out, and rumors circulated that Baradar, the de facto leader, was injured.
In addition, Moulbi Amir Khan Mutaki, who participated in the peace negotiation team with the Afghan government, was appointed acting foreign minister. Muhammad Yakub, son of the late Taliban founder and first leader, Muhammad Omar, was appointed as acting defense minister, and Shirazuddin Haqqani, head of the Haqqani faction, was appointed as acting interior minister. Haqqani is an organization designated as a terrorist organization by the United States.
“All nominations are provisional and we will try to include people from other regions,” Mujahid said. Such remarks mean that the Taliban are paying attention to the international community, but it seems that it remains to be seen whether there will be a change in the composition of the government in the future. Recently in downtown Kabul, women even took part in protests demanding the protection of women’s human rights, but the Taliban only replied that they would deal with women’s rights issues, but there was no news of women participating in the cabinet formation discussion. The Associated Press evaluated that “there was no trace of non-Taliban people in the cabinet, which was highly demanded by the international community.”
Azalea reporter aza@hankookilbo.com
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