The Taliban announced the formation of an interim government: Akhonzada as emir and Ahund as acting prime minister

Source: Global Times

On the 7th local time, the Taliban announced the establishment of the "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan", formed a provisional government and announced the list of some government officials.

Akhonzada

Taliban spokesman Mujahid said on the 7th that Supreme Leader Akhnzada will lead the country as an "emir". According to the list published by the Taliban, Mohammed Hassan Ahund, a close comrade-in-arms of the late Taliban leader Omar, served as acting Prime Minister, Baradal acted Deputy Prime Minister, Abdul Salam Hanafe acted Second Deputy Prime Minister, Amir Khan Mutaji acted As Acting Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mohammed Jacob acting Minister of Defence, Silajddin Haqqani acting Minister of the Interior, Khalil Al-Haqqani acting Minister for Refugees, Hedayara Badri acting Minister of Finance, Abdul Ahmed Al-Khakarni acting Minister of Finance, Abdul Ahmed as Acting Minister of Defence, Abdall al-Khaqqani acting Minister of Defence, Khalil Al-Khaqqani as Acting Minister of Refugees, Hedayara Badri as Acting Minister of Finance, Abdul Ahmed bin Rashid Bin Rashy Hakim Shati is acting Minister of Justice and Mohammed Idris is Acting Governor of the Central Bank.

Mujahid said other positions in the government would be announced at a later date, hoping that in the future all sectors of Afghanistan would have their place in the new government. He said the Taliban knew the Afghan people had been waiting for a new government, and that the group had responded to the needs of the people. According to the Russian Satellite News Agency reported on the 7th, Another Taliban spokesman Shaheen said earlier in the day that the Taliban hopes to maintain diplomatic relations with countries around the world except Israel and maintain friendly relations with Afghanistan's neighbors.

Mohammed Hassan Ahund served as Foreign Minister and Governor of Kandahar Province during the Taliban regime from 1996 to 2001. Baradal was arrested more than a decade ago in a joint U.S.-Pakistan operation and released in 2018, according to NBC. He served as the Taliban's chief negotiator during qatar's peace talks with the United States and recently held secret meetings with Burns, the head of the CIA.

NBC commented that the timing of the Taliban's announcement of an interim government was shocking as 9/11 approached its 20th anniversary. In addition, there are no non-Taliban personnel in the list of government officials released by the Taliban on the 7th, which shows that the organization has not succumbed to domestic and international pressure to establish an inclusive government. CNN said the Taliban formed a "hardline" Afghan government. The BBC believes that the formation of an interim government is a key step in the formation of a formal government by the Taliban.

The United States is not in a hurry to establish formal relations with the Taliban. When asked if the United States would recognize the Taliban, U.S. President Joe Biden told reporters at the White House on Monday night: "That's a long way off," according to U.S. media reports. "Voice of America" and other media said that US Secretary of State Blinken and Defense Secretary Austin visited Qatar together on the 7th, which is a stop for the two people in the Middle East, and this visit is mainly to coordinate the Afghan issue with other countries. Blinken will then travel to Germany to chair a 20-nation ministerial video conference with the German foreign minister to discuss the situation in Afghanistan. Austin's trip to the Middle East will also include Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

The Russian Satellite News Agency said on the 7th that the Russian Foreign Ministry said that Russia would not participate in the ministerial talks on Afghanistan on September 8. Russian Presidential Press Secretary Peskov said russia has not yet made any decision on the recognition of the Taliban and needs to know whether their promises will become a reality, and it is important to understand what kind of leadership system it will be, from a holistic and individual perspective. Qatar's Al Jazeera previously quoted Taliban sources as reporting that the Taliban had previously issued invitations to Turkey, China, Russia, Iran, Pakistan and Qatar to participate in the announcement of the formation of the new government.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on the 6th that China's position is consistent and clear. We have always respected the sovereign independence and territorial integrity of Afghanistan and support the Afghan people in independently choosing a development path that suits their national conditions. We have also always supported the formation of an open, inclusive and broadly representative government in Afghanistan, pursuing a moderate and steady domestic and foreign policy, resolutely cracking down on all kinds of terrorist forces, and living in friendship with all countries, especially neighboring countries.

Some experts told the Global Times that the new Afghan government led by the Taliban faces many challenges, the most difficult of which is still a large number of foreign forces and their proxies to intervene in Afghanistan's internal affairs in various ways. On the morning of the 7th, a protest march took place near the Pakistani Embassy in Afghanistan in Kabul, and the Taliban fired warning shots at the sky and dispersed the protesters. In total, the march was more than 70 people, most of them women, according to Agence France-Presse. In addition to expressing concern about the Taliban's restrictions on women's freedom, protesters also shouted anti-Pakistan slogans.

Shokat, a researcher at the Institute of Peace and Conflict at Peshawar University in Pakistan, told the Global Times that the protesters were clearly being used by others and had a strong political purpose behind smearing Pakistan. Shah Zadeh, director of Pakistan's Eurasian Century Institute, said the Taliban did not have enough experience in dealing with such demonstrations. After the warning of the guns fired, there were voices of discontent on social media and international public opinion. If the Taliban take inappropriate measures, it is likely to completely lose the support of the international community, trigger a serious humanitarian crisis and lead to a resurgence of political instability in Afghanistan.