Akhund will be interim PM, Baradar to be deputy: Taliban

Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund, the little-known head of the Taliban’s leadership council, was named as acting prime minister, spokesman Zabihullah Mujahed said at a press conference in Kabul on Tuesday. Taliban co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the main public face of the group who signed a peace deal with the Trump administration last year, will serve as his deputy.

Sirajuddin Haqqani, leader of the Haqqani Network who is on the FBI’s most wanted list for terrorism, will serve as acting interior minister. That may complicate any moves by the US to cooperate with the Taliban, particularly as President Joe Biden urges the Taliban to cut all ties with terrorist groups. Besides, Mullah Yaqoob, a deputy Taliban leader since 2016, will take charge as caretaker defence minister.

The announcement of Cabinet appointments by Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid came hours after Taliban fired into the air to disperse protesters and arrested several journalists, 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 northern Panjshir province. The Taliban said Monday they seized the province — the last not in their control — after their blitz through Afghanistan last month.

Afghanistan’s previous government routinely accused Pakistan of aiding the Taliban, a charge Islamabad has denied. Former vice president Amrullah Saleh, one of the leaders of the anti-Taliban forces, has long been an outspoken critic of neighboring Pakistan.

Dozens of women were among the protesters Tuesday. Some of them carried signs bemoaning the killing of their sons by Taliban fighters they say were aided by Pakistan. One sign read: “I am a mother when you kill my son you kill a part of me.”

The Taliban again moved quickly and harshly to end Tuesday’s protest when it arrived near the presidential palace.