- Minister wanted by FBI makes the list
- Protests claim two lives
- Country is officially an Islamic emirate
The Taliban have announced an all-male caretaker government including an interior minister wanted by the FBI, on a day when at least two people were killed by violent policing of street protests against the new authorities.
Unveiled on Tuesday at a press conference, the new leadership is drawn entirely from Taliban ranks, despite promises of an inclusive cabinet. Many of its senior figures are on UN sanctions lists, which is likely to complicate the group’s search for international recognition.
Late on Tuesday, a US State Department spokesman said: “We note the announced list of names consists exclusively of individuals who are members of the Taliban or their close associates and no women. We also are concerned by the affiliations and track records of some of the individuals.”
“We understand that the Taliban has presented this as a caretaker cabinet. However, we will judge the Taliban by its actions, not words.”
The State Department renewed its call on the Taliban to offer safe passage to US citizens as well as Afghans looking to leave.
With this development, officials said Afghanistan will once more be officially known as an Islamic emirate, as it was under Taliban rule in the 1990s, and its chief, Hibatullah Akhundzada, will be supreme leader.
The Taliban have also brought back the Ministry for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, a notorious enforcement body that was one of the most hated institutions when they last controlled Afghanistan. Its main function was to police the Taliban’s extreme interpretation of Islamic law.
To occupy the Prime Minister’s office is Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund, one of the founding members of the group who was close to its original leader, one-eyed Mullah Mohammed Omar.
He has had far less international exposure than other senior Taliban leaders, but as head of the group’s powerful leadership council, Akhund is one of its most influential members.
Mullah Omar’s son, Mullah Yaqoob will be Defence Minister, and the acting Interior Minister is Sirajuddin Haqqani, who is on the FBI wanted list with a $5m (£3.6m) bounty on his head.
In his first statement since the Taliban seized power last month, Akhundzada said Afghanistan’s new rulers were committed to all international laws, treaties, and commitments, not in conflict with Islamic law.
“In the future, all matters of governance and life in Afghanistan will be regulated by the laws of the holy Sharia,” he said.
The government lineup is unlikely to offer progress on any of those fronts. Instead, it appears primarily designed to prevent internal fractures within the movement, after weeks of heated internal discussions about power-sharing, said Haroun Rahimi, a law professor at the American University of Afghanistan.
“It won’t help with domestic legitimacy, it won’t help with international recognition, it will not help ease the resistance, and they will not help government run more smoothly,” he said, pointing out that few ministers had expertise in their portfolios.
“So I have to conclude that the only reason they chose this kind of makeup was to make sure there will be no internal fractures.”
The new cabinet is also heavily dominated by the Pashtun ethnic group that formed the Taliban’s original power base but which makes up only about 40% of Afghanistan’s population. Just three appointees appeared to be from other ethnic groups.
It was unveiled by the government spokesperson, Zabihullah Mujahid. Asked about the lack of inclusivity, he could offer only vague promises that the minor portfolios outstanding may be awarded in a way that broadens the government.
“Some ministries and deputies and many top positions are remaining. We will try to include people from across the country in it. It’s not a permanent cabinet and we will try to make it more inclusive,” he said.
For now, the Taliban face a major economic crisis with domestic pressure from political opponents and an uprising in the Panjshir valley that has not been entirely stamped out despite their capture of the provincial capital.
The internal pressures were highlighted by protests in Kabul that drew hundreds of people and which – although initially peaceful – ended in the Taliban firing guns into the air, beating protesters and journalists, seizing equipment, and detaining some people.
A smaller protest in western Herat ended with two dead and at least four injured, according to the Afghan newspaper Etilaatroz. The Guardian saw a video of the Taliban dispersing protesters with gunfire.
With domestic reserves frozen, and the country long dependent on international aid, there is also a desperate search for international legitimacy that may allow funds to keep flowing. – With Guardian reports
