It's been over 10 days since The Taliban converted Afghanistan back into the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. The same name and dreadfully, the state, that Afghanistan had under the Taliban rule from 1996 to 2001.
Soon after President Ashraf Ghani fled the country, the Taliban fighters seized control of the Afghan Presidential Palace in Kabul. A press conference followed, with the Taliban flag in tow, by the spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid at the Government Media Information Centre. It was only a matter of days since the desperate and raging Taliban appointed its 'cabinet and council of ministers.'
Guantanamo detainee is the defence minister
As per the first set of information and reports, Taliban has appointed former Guantanamo detainee mullah Abdul Qayyum, Zakir as the acting defence minister. Qatar-based news channel Al Jazeera cited a source in the Islamist movement who shared the development.
Other key posts filled up too
On-ground reporters from Kabul and social media activists have shared how the Taliban has a bulldog grip on things and can be seen patrolling literally every street in every city. As a part of the "taking full control as soon as possible," Taliban on Tuesday also appointed some more of its members and temporarily filled in some other key positions like heads of intelligence, finance, interior and education ministries.
Head of the Central Bank of Afghanistan
It must be noted that on Monday, Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid took to his official Twitter account to announce that Haji Mohammad Idris had been appointed as the acting director of Da Afghanistan Bank (DAB) who would be tackling the banking sector and economic issues facing the country at the moment.
The Bloomberg reported on Afghanistan's deep economic crisis, where the entire banking sector is in turmoil with ATMs running out of cash, currency dipping to an all-time low and prices of essential commodities rising by as much as 35 per cent.
New face of Islamist insurgents
Moving on, Najibullah has been appointed as the intelligence chief, while Gul Agha is the finance minister. Afghan media also reported that Sadr Ibrahim has been named as the acting interior minister, while Sakhaullah is the head of education.
Abdul Baqi will be the acting head of higher education and Mullah Shirin has been appointed as the Kabul's governor. Hamdullah Nomani is the new Kabul mayor. Not many personal and background details are available as yet of the appointed ministers but a criminal past and questionable credentials are a given.
For instance, the finance minister Gul Agha Ishakzai is said to be a childhood friend of Taliban founder Mulllah Omar and is known to operate under several aliases. As for other members, it is believed that a number of UN and other international organisations have issued sanctions against them. Its interior minister Sadr Ibrahim is also believed to be with the Taliban since 1994. Before which he was reportedly involved in the Mujahideen battle.
The new mayor Hamdullah Nomani, as per information available on the website of the UN Security Council, is a very senior member of the Taliban and has been a part of the Taliban Supreme Council and has also been in the UN Sanctions List.
