The Taliban have announced a new interim government in Afghanistan, naming Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund as the country’s interim prime minister as they officially declared the country an “Islamic Emirate”.
The Taliban in a statement issued on Tuesday by its Spokesperson, Zabihullah Mujahid, appointed Sarajuddin Haqqani, as new interior minister of the Islamic Emirate.
Other appointments include Mullah Yaqoob as acting defence minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi as acting foreign minister, and Taliban co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar and Mullah Abdul Salam Hanafi as two deputies.
Yaqoob is the son of Taliban founder and late supreme leader Mullah Omar.
Baradar was previously head of the Taliban’s political office, and oversaw the signing of the US withdrawal agreement last year.
The new interior minister, Haqqani, has been on the wanted list of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as the leader of the Haqqani militant group, who are affiliated with the Taliban and have been behind some of the deadliest attacks in the country’s two-decade-long war.
THEWILL reports the Taliban, had seized control of most parts of Afghanistan in August, ousting the previous elected leadership of Ashraf Ghani.
“We know the people of our country have been waiting for a new government”, spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said, adding that the group had answered the people’s needs.