Afghanistan: Who's who in Taliban interim government which includes militant on FBI most-wanted list
The Taliban have announced an interim government in Afghanistan, giving senior posts to members who dominated the decades long war against the US-led coalition and its Afghan government allies and a militant who is on the FBI's most-wanted list.
The new government will be led by Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund, who headed the Taliban government in Kabul during the last years of its rule.
Its co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, who headed the Taliban’s political office in Doha, will serve as deputy, a spokesperson told reporters.
Baradar had led talks with the United States and signed the deal that led to America’s much criticised withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Sarajuddin Haqqani, the new acting interior minister, is head of the militant group known as the Haqqani network and on the FBI's most-wanted list.
The Haqqani network has been responsible for some of the deadliest attacks in Afghanistan's bloody 20-year war and is designated as a foreign terrorist organisation by the United States.
Sarajuddin Haqqani is wanted by the FBI in connection with the January 2008 attack on a hotel in Kabul, that killed six people, including an American citizen.
Haqqani also allegedly was involved in the planning of the assassination attempt on Afghan President Hamid Karzai in 2008.
Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob, son of Taliban founder Mullah Omar, has reportedly been named as defence minister, while Hedayatullah Badri will be the acting minister of finance.
"We know the people of our country have been waiting for a new government," spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said.
When announcing the cabinet, he said the appointments were only for an interim government. Despite international pressure to do so, there is currently no evidence of non-Taliban members in the lineup, which would have indicated a more moderate form of governance.
Earlier, the Taliban fired into the air to disperse protesters and arrested several journalists in the Afghan capital.
This is the second time in less than a week the group used heavy-handed tactics to break up a demonstration in Kabul.
The demonstrators had gathered outside the Pakistan embassy to accuse Islamabad of aiding the Taliban’s assault on the northern Panjshir province.
In one case, Taliban waving Kalashnikov rifles took a microphone from a journalist and began beating him with it, breaking the microphone.
The journalist was later handcuffed and detained for several hours.
On Monday, the Taliban said they seized the province – the last one not under their control – after their blitz through Afghanistan last month, but anti-Taliban groups in the region have rejected the claim.
The face of the resistance movement in the country, Ahmad Massoud, has called on Afghans to "rise up" and "resist" the insurgents in any way they can. His National Resistance Front of Afghanistan has said it will stand with the nation "until reaching freedom" in the country.
On Saturday, Taliban special forces troops in camouflage gear fired their weapons into the air to end a protest march in the capital by Afghan women demanding equal rights from the new rulers.
Protesters took to the streets of Kabul on Tuesday to demonstrate against the Taliban's control of Afghanistan
Meanwhile, in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif, four aircraft chartered to evacuate about 2,000 Afghans fleeing Taliban rule were still at the airport.
A week after Western forces left Afghanistan, many people desperate to flee still remain the country.
On Saturday, ITV News Correspondent John Ray heard the stories of 'harrowing scenes' and 'hope' from those leaving Kabul airport
The Taliban say they are trying to find out who among the estimated 2,000 have valid travel documents.
US secretary of state Antony Blinken said in Qatar on Tuesday the Taliban have given assurances of safe passage for all those seeking to leave Afghanistan with proper travel documents. He said the United States would hold the Taliban to that pledge.