08 September 2021

Taliban announce interim government in Afghanistan

by Gabriel Dominguez & Olivia Harper

More than three weeks after taking control of Kabul, the Taliban announced on 7 September the formation of an interim government in Afghanistan featuring some cabinet members that are on a UN sanctions list and an acting interior minister who is on the FBI's wanted list.

Heading the caretaker government as acting prime minister of the ‘Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan', which is how the country will once again be formally called, will be Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund, one of the group's founding members, with Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, head of the Taliban's political office in Qatar, set to be one of his deputies alongside Maulvi Adul Salam Hanafi, according to an announcement by chief spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid.

Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid during a press conference held in Kabul on 7 September in which he announced that Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund would be the head of a new Taliban interim government in Afghanistan, while other key positions would go to some of the group's top officials. (Aamir Qureshi/AFP via Getty Images)

Akhund originates from Kandahar Province, the birthplace of the Taliban, and during the group's rule of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001 acted as foreign minister before being appointed as deputy prime minster.

Baradar fought alongside Mullah Mohammad Omar in the early 1990s during the period of unrest following the withdrawal of the Soviet Union from Afghanistan before founding the Taliban with Omar in 1996. As head of the political office in Qatar, Baradar oversaw the signing of the 29 February 2020 agreement with the United States that outlined the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan.

More than three weeks after taking control of Kabul, the Taliban announced on 7 September the format...

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