Afghanistan: Taliban expects announcement of new government | Afghanistan

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The Taliban is expected to announce the formation of a new government in Afghanistan within hours, as chaos and turmoil deepen and the country teeters on the brink of economic collapse after more than two weeks of Islamist militia control.

Sources told AFP that the government could serve after morning prayers on Friday, while Ahmadullah Muttaki, a Taliban official, said on social media that a ceremony was being prepared at the presidential palace in Kabul.

Private broadcaster Tolo said an announcement was imminent. Taliban officials have said that the movement’s supreme leader, Haibatullah Akhundzada, is expected to have ultimate authority over a new Governing Council, to be succeeded by a president.

Islamist militants ruled Afghanistan through an unelected leadership council, and brutally imposed an extreme form of Islamic law, from 1996 until 2001, when they were ousted by US-led forces, but they have promised less governance since their return.

However, the United States, the European Union and other countries have questioned such assurances, saying that official recognition of the new government – and any economic assistance that will follow – will depend on the actions of the Taliban in power.

“We will not take their words seriously, we will take them in their actions,” said US Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland. The EU has said the new rulers will only be recognized after an inclusive government is in place, human rights are respected, and aid workers are provided unrestricted access.

Haibatullah, a religious scholar from Kandahar whose son was a suicide bomber, is expected to play a theocratic role similar to that of Iran’s supreme leader. Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, one of the movement’s founders and deputy leader who was imprisoned in Pakistan, is likely to be appointed to head the government.

Other Taliban officials expected to take senior positions include Sirajuddin Haqqani, another deputy leader, and Muhammad Yaqoub, son of Mullah Muhammad Omar, the founder of the Taliban, who died in 2013.

Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, a senior Taliban leader, said on Wednesday that women can continue working but “may not” have a place in the cabinet, which led to a rare protest Thursday by 50 women over the right to work and the shortage. of women’s participation in the new government.

Basera Taheri, one of the protest organizers in Herat, Afghanistan’s third largest city, told AFP she wanted the Taliban to include women in the new government. “We want the Taliban to hold consultations with us,” Taheri said. “We don’t see any women in their meetings and meetings.”

The new government will face enormous challenges. The United Nations has warned of a looming humanitarian catastrophe across the country of 40 million people amid severe drought, growing food insecurity and disruption caused by the 20-year war that has forced thousands of families to flee their homes.

The organization’s humanitarian coordinator in Afghanistan said that food stocks distributed by the United Nations are likely to run out in most parts of the country by the end of September, with shortages of food and other necessities already widespread.

Hours of queues outside banks and price hikes in Kabul’s markets highlighted the growing daily concerns facing the capital’s residents.

Afghanistan desperately needs the money, but despite assurances from the new Taliban-appointed central bank chief, the Taliban are unlikely to gain quick access to the nearly $10 billion (£7.25 billion) in assets held by the Afghan central bank. Mostly abroad.

Indicating in which direction Afghanistan might now turn for international assistance, Zabihullah Mujahid, the official spokesman for the new regime, told Italian newspaper La Repubblica that China was “our main partner and represents a fundamental and extraordinary opportunity for us as a Chinese government. Ready to invest and rebuild our country.”

Mujahid said that the Taliban “are very interested in the ‘One Belt, One Road’ project. We own rich copper mines, which will be modernized thanks to the Chinese. Finally, China is our ticket to markets all over the world.”

When asked about the Taliban’s relationship with Russia, he said that relations with Moscow are “primarily political and economic. Russia continues to mediate with us and with us to create conditions for international peace.”

The Taliban promised to allow safe passage out of the country for any foreigners or Afghans left behind by the massive airlift that ended with the withdrawal of the last US forces on Monday, but Kabul airport remained closed on Thursday.

Al Jazeera reported that domestic flights from the airport, which will be vital to humanitarian operations, will resume on Friday, adding that while a Qatari technical team was assessing the damage, the return of international air traffic that will allow more evacuations will take “some time”. “.

With Reuters and Agence France-Presse

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