Taliban Announces Leader, First Ministers In New Afghan Government

KABUL (AFP, BLOOMBERG) – The Taliban announced Mullah Mohammad Hasan Akhund as the leader of their new government in Afghanistan on Tuesday (Sept 7).

Chief spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid also told a press conference that Taliban co-founder Abdul Ghani Baradar, the main public face of the Taliban, will be the deputy leader.

Mullah Akhund is the little-known head of the Taliban’s leadership council and was named as acting prime minister by spokesman Mujahid said at a press conference in Kabul.

Military leader Sirajuddin Haqqani – who heads the Haqqani network, a US-designated terrorist organisation – will serve as acting interior minister.

That may complicate any moves by the United States to cooperate with the Taliban, particularly as President Joe Biden urges the Taliban to cut all ties with terrorist groups.

The US and its allies have been watching to see whether the Taliban would form an inclusive government that can stabilise the country and prevent a return to civil war.

Other demands include freedom of travel for those who want to leave Afghanistan and rights for women, who faced extreme repression when the Taliban last held power at the turn of the century.

For the new Taliban government, a lot is at stake. Signs of an economic crisis are brewing, with prices of essential goods rising in Kabul while banks run short on cash.

The US has frozen roughly US$9 billion (S$12.1 billion) in assets belonging to Da Afghanistan Bank, or DAB, the nation’s central bank, and the International Monetary Fund cut off the group from using fund reserve assets.