Kabul: The Taliban are all set to announce the formation of a new government in Kabul on the lines of the Iranian leadership, with the group’s top religious leader Mullah Hebatullah Akhundzada as Afghanistan’s supreme authority, a senior member of the group has said.
Consultations are almost finalised on the new government, and the necessary discussions have also been held about the cabinet, Mufti Inamullah Samangani, a senior official in the Taliban’s information and culture commission, said on Wednesday.
He said the group is all set to announce the formation of the new government in Kabul in the next three days. In the new set-up, 60-year-old Mullah Akhundzada will be the Supreme Leader of the Taliban government, which will follow the pattern of the Iranian leadership.
Samangani said that under the new governmental set-up, governors will control the provinces, while the district governors will be in-charge of their respective districts. The Taliban has already appointed governors, police chiefs and police commanders for provinces and districts. Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, deputy leader of the Taliban political office in Doha, told media channels that women and members from all tribes in Afghanistan will be part of the new set-up.
Meanwhile, Afghanistan’s new Taliban rulers struggled to keep the country functioning after the final withdrawal of U.S. forces, with foreign donors alarmed about an impending humanitarian crisis.
Two weeks since the Taliban’s sweep into Kabul brought a chaotic end to 20 years of warfare, the Islamist militants have yet to name a new government or reveal how they intend to rule.
In an administrative vacuum, prices have soared and crowds have gathered at banks to withdraw cash.
Heavily armed fighters have imposed control on the capital, but Taliban officials were grappling with keeping hospitals and government machinery running following the end of a huge airlift of foreigners and Afghans who had helped Western forces.
The new, Taliban-appointed central bank head has sought to reassure banks the group wants a fully functioning financial system, but has so far given little detail on how it will supply funds for it, bankers familiar with the matter said.
Qatar’s Al Jazeera television reported that Qatari technical experts had arrived at the Taliban’s request to discuss resuming operations at Kabul airport, currently inoperable.