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- The Taliban drew from its upper echelons on Tuesday to fill top spots in Afghanistan’s government
- It said it’s committed to all international laws, treaties and commitments that do not conflict with Islamic law
- The United States said it was concerned by the track records of some of the Cabinet members and noted that no women had been included
- Mullah Hasan Akhund, a long-standing chief of the Taliban’s powerful decision-making body, has been appointed prime minister
- Sirajuddin Haqqani, the new interior minister, is the son of the founder of the Haqqani network, which is classified as a terrorist group by the US
The Taliban drew from its upper echelons on Tuesday to fill top spots in Afghanistan’s government, including a wanted man on a US terrorism list who was appointed interior minister.
Western countries have told the militant group that the key to peace and development is an inclusive government that would make good on its promise to take a more conciliatory approach and uphold human rights.
Taliban supreme leader Haibatullah Akhundzada, in his first public statement since the seizure of Kabul on August 15, said the group is committed to all international laws, treaties and commitments that do not 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 in a statement.
The United States said it was concerned by the track records of some of the Cabinet members and noted that no women had been included.
Mullah Hasan Akhund, named as prime minister, like many in the Taliban leadership derives much of his prestige from his close connection to the group’s reclusive late founder, Mullah Omar, who presided over its rule two decades ago.
Akhund is long-standing chief of the Taliban’s powerful decision-making body Rehbari Shura, or leadership council, and was foreign minister before being appointed deputy prime minister when the Taliban were last in power. Like many members of the incoming Cabinet, Akhund is under UN sanctions for his role in that government.
Sirajuddin Haqqani, the new interior minister, is the son of the founder of the Haqqani network, which is classified as a terrorist group by the US. He is one of the FBI’s most wanted men due to his involvement in suicide attacks and ties with Al Qaeda.
Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, head of the movement’s political office who was given his nom de guerre “brother” — or Baradar — by Mullah Omar, was appointed as Akhund’s deputy.
The passing over of Baradar for the top government job came as a surprise to some, since he had been responsible for negotiating the US withdrawal at talks in Qatar and presenting the face of the Taliban to the outside world.
He was previously a senior Taliban commander in the long insurgency against U.S. forces, and was arrested and imprisoned in Pakistan in 2010 before becoming head of the Taliban’s political office in Doha after his release in 2018.
White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters on Air Force One, as President Joe Biden flew to New York, that there would be no recognition of the Taliban government soon.
