KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) – The Taliban on Tuesday announced a male-dominated interim government for Afghanistan with veterans of its hard-line 1990s and 20-year battle against the U.S.-led coalition, a move that seems unlikely to gain international support, new leaders desperately need to avoid economic collapse.
Sirajuddin Haqqani, who is on the FBI’s most wanted list with a $ 5 million reward on his head and is believed to continue to hold at least one American hostage, has been named key interior minister. He led the dreaded Haqqani network, guilty of many deadly attacks and kidnappings.
The announcement came hours after Taliban fired their weapons into the air to disperse protesters in the capital Kabul and arrested several journalists, the second time in less than a week that heavy tactics were used to break up. a demonstration.
Based primarily on Afghanistan’s dominant Pashtun ethnic group, the lack of cabinet representation by other ethnic groups also seems likely to hamper its support from abroad.
Up to 80% of Afghanistan’s budget comes from the international community and the long-standing economic crisis has worsened in recent months. Near daily flights from Qatar provide humanitarian aid, but the needs are massive and the Taliban can hardly afford isolation.
In announcing the cabinet, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid stressed that the appointments were temporary. He did not say how long they will last and what would be the catalyst for a change.
Since Afghanistan took office in mid-August following the withdrawal of U.S. troops, the Taliban have shown no sign of holding elections.
Acting Prime Minister Mullah Hasan Akhund also led the Taliban government in Kabul during the last years of his government. Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, who had led talks with the United States and signed the agreement that led to the withdrawal, will be one of Akhund’s two deputies.
A policy statement accompanying the Cabinet announcement was intended to calm the fears of Afghanistan’s neighbors and the rest of the world, but was unlikely to calm the fears of women, who got nowhere.
“Our message to our neighbors, the region and the world is that the soil of Afghanistan will not be used against the security of any other country,” the statement said.
He urged foreign diplomats, embassies, consulates and humanitarian organizations to return to Afghanistan. “Their presence is the need of our country,” he said.
The statement spoke of protecting the rights of minorities and the underprivileged and promised education “to all citizens in the framework of sharia.” The three-page statements did not mention women.
Abdul Salam Hanafi, an ethnic Uzbek, was appointed second deputy to Hasan Akhund. A longtime Taliban member, he is unlikely to meet the demands for inclusion and representation of minorities.
In addition to Haqqani as chief of police, the other defense minister’s security post was for Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob, the son of the Taliban founder and close mythical figure of Mullah Mohammad Omar.
The Haqqani network, which dominates most of eastern Afghanistan, has been accused of dramatic attacks in Kabul over the past two decades and orchestrating kidnappings, often by Americans. Washington believes it still holds Mark Frerichs, a civilian contractor, who was abducted in January 2020 and nothing has been known since.
The new foreign minister will be Amir Khan Muttaqi, another prominent figure from the last time the Taliban ruled. He faces a difficult task, given the lack of diversity in the Council of Ministers.
Cabinet selection challenged the many voices that had urged inclusion and moderation. Instead, it appeared to be a reverence to the tens of thousands of Taliban fighters, who would have struggled to accept figures from previous governments they consider corrupt and believe they were called to expel.
“The fighters made the sacrifices. … They are the ones who make the decisions, not the politicians, ”said analyst and author Fazelminallah Qazizai, who has written extensively about the Taliban.
Yet, even with a cabinet dominated by ethnic Pashtuns, the Taliban’s fighting force seems to have already achieved some diversity, with its ranks considerably strengthened by ethnic Tajiks and Uzbeks. This may have helped the Taliban gain a stunning victory in Badakhshan province, mostly Tajik, which they barely overcame a fight. When they last ruled, the province was the only one they could not control.
At Tuesday’s gun-fired rally, protesters had gathered in front of the Pakistani embassy to accuse Islamabad of aiding the Taliban assault in northern Panjshir province. The Taliban said on Monday that they had seized the province, the last one it did not control, after its lightning advance through Afghanistan last month.
The previous government in Afghanistan routinely accused neighboring Pakistan of aiding the Taliban, a charge Islamabad has denied.
Dozens of women were among the protesters, and some carried signs lamenting the killing of their children by Taliban fighters who are said to have been aided by Pakistan. A sign read: “I am a mother. When you kill my son, you kill a part of me. ”
At one point, a Taliban fighter responded, “We have announced amnesty to everyone who has killed our children.”
The Taliban moved quickly and harshly to end the protest as protesters arrived near the presidential palace. They fired guns into the air and arrested several journalists covering the demonstration. At one point, a Taliban member waving a Kalashnikov rifle grabbed a microphone from a journalist and started hitting him with it. The journalist was later handcuffed and detained for several hours.
“This is the third time the Taliban has arrested me covering the protests,” the journalist told The Associated Press, on the condition that he not be identified because he feared reprisals. “I will not cover a demonstration again. It’s too difficult for me. “
A journalist from the popular TOLO News in Afghanistan was detained for three hours by the Taliban before being released. The equipment was returned to him and the video of the demonstration was intact.
On Saturday, Taliban special forces in camouflage fired guns into the air to end a protest march in Kabul by women demanding equal rights.
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Associated Press writers Tameem Akhgar and Rahim Faiez collaborated in Istanbul.