A designated global terrorist, Sirajuddin Haqqani, has found a place as interior minister in the new “interim” Taliban government led by Mullah Hassan Akhund. Here is everything you need to know.
File photos of Mullah Baradar (left), Sirajuddin Haqqani (center) and Mullah Akhund (right)
HIGHLIGHTS
- Mullah Baradar was listed on the UNSC Sanctions List in 2001
- Sirajuddin Haqqani is linked to an attack on a hotel in Kabul. Wanted by the FBI in 2008
- Mullah Akhund, head of the Taliban Rehbari Shura, was a close associate of the Taliban founder Mullah Omar
The Taliban announced on Tuesday the formation of a new government in Afghanistan within hours of defeating the resistance forces in the Panjshir Valley. With reports pointing to internal fighting within the top leadership of the Afghan Taliban, the insurgent group is taking steps to increase its influence in Kabul.
Afghanistan fell on August 15 when Taliban fighters marched on Kabul, forcing President Ashraf Ghani and his top ministers to flee the country. It followed a chaotic withdrawal of US and NATO forces from the war-ravaged country by August 31st.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid announced the formation of a new Taliban government in Afghanistan under the leadership of Mullah Hassan Akhund in a speech to international media in Kabul on Tuesday.
READ: FULL LIST OF THE NEW TALIBAN GOVERNMENT Headed by MULLAH AKHUND
This will be an “acting” government and not a permanent one, said Zabihullah Mujahid, without specifying the term of office of the ministers or the possibility of elections in Afghanistan. He added that each minister in the new Taliban government will be assisted by two deputies.
“Old guard” dominates the new Taliban government
Mullah Hassan Akhund, a close associate of Taliban founder Mullah Omar, has headed the Taliban’s leadership council, Rehbari Shura, for two decades. Akhund was foreign minister under the previous Taliban regime and remains on the UN Security Council’s sanctions list.
Then the Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif receives Mullah Akhund in Islamabad on August 26, 1999 | Credits: Saeed Khan / AFP
Mullah Hasan Akhund has been appointed head of the new Taliban government Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar and Mawlavi Abdul Salam Hanafi as his deputies.
Several experts, who were closely following the situation, were surprised to find Mullah Baradar’s appointment as deputy to Mullah Hassan Akhund as Baradar led the alleged Taliban-US peace talks that led to the 2020 Doha Accords.
Identified terrorist finds place in the Taliban government
Even more worrying is the appointment of Sirajuddin Haqqani as Interior Minister of the new Taliban government. The leader of the Haqqani network, Sirajuddin Haqqani, is considered a global terrorist.
The son of the anti-Soviet Mujahideen commander Jalaluddin Haqqani, Sirajuddin is wanted by the FBI in connection with the attack on a hotel in Kabul in January 2008, in which six people were killed. In fact, the State Department continues to offer a $ 5 million reward for clues leading to his arrest.
Sirajuddin Haqqani is also said to have been involved in planning an assassination attempt on then Afghan President Hamid Karzai in 2008. His alleged involvement in a number of suicide bombings and his close ties to al-Qaeda are also of concern to the international community.
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