Reporter | Anjing
A number of overseas media previously reported that the Afghan Taliban will announce the list of new governments as soon as September 3, local time.
But Taliban spokesman Bilal Karimi denied the news on Friday, saying a specific date for the release of the new government's list had not yet been determined, but would be "in the near future," according to the latest report from Russia's satellite network.
Karimi promised that the new government would represent all Afghans and that "all Afghans would be involved."
It is reported that the new Taliban government structure will be similar to that of Iran, with a governing council with Taliban supreme leader Akhonzada as the supreme leader. One of the Taliban's deputy leaders, Baradal, in charge of political affairs, became head of government.
The leader of the Taliban branch, the Haqqani network, Sirajuddin, and The Son of Omar, the founder of the Taliban, and Yar Gubai, the son of the Taliban founder Omar, will also serve as senior officials.
Although the final list is not yet out, if the Taliban want to sit firmly, Afghanistan's ethnic and tribal forces are a force that they cannot ignore.
<h3>Taliban top brass</h3>
There are currently four members at the top of the Taliban: Supreme Leader Akhonzada, three deputy leaders Baladal, Sirajuddin and Yar Gubai.
Akhonzada is a member of the Taliban hierarchy. But instead of armed struggle, he was previously primarily responsible for religion and Sharia law, and he issued most of the Taliban's orders. Before taking over as top Taliban leader in 2016, Akhonzada served as chief justice of the Shariah Court.
After Ahonzada became the top Taliban leader, his son launched a suicide bombing attack on a target of Afghan government forces in 2017. For years, Akhonzada rarely made public appearances.
Baradal, one of the founders of the Taliban, became friends with Omar, the first supreme leader of the Taliban, in the anti-Soviet war. It is also said that Omar's sister was Baradal's wife.
Baradal was in charge of military operations and was the Taliban's military strategic decision-maker and commander. After the overthrow of the Taliban regime, Omar went into hiding and Baradal became the de facto leader of the Taliban. It was under his leadership that the Taliban completed its reorganization.
In 2010, Baradal was arrested in Pakistan. Until 2018, the United States planned to speed up the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan and prepare for negotiations with the Taliban, and Baladal, who was seen as the most suitable negotiator, was released.
In the Taliban's peace talks with the United States, Baradal was the Taliban's chief representative. He was also the first Taliban leader to speak directly with former U.S. President Donald Trump.
Another deputy leader, Sirajuddin, is the son of Jalarudin Haqqani, the founder of the Haqqani network, which has close ties to al-Qaida and has launched several attacks that have attracted international attention.
Omar's son, Yar Gubai, set up a financial commission in 2016 to boost the Taliban's revenue through mineral exports.
The Sirajuddins and The Yar's Lonely Whites disagree on a number of issues, including the Taliban's relationship with India. India has long accused Pakistan of supporting the Taliban.
<h3>Ethnic and tribal contradictions</h3>
Previously, many countries, including Russia, called on the Taliban to establish an inclusive government covering all ethnic groups in Afghanistan. Pashtun-non-Pashtun conflict, tribal politics, and the influence of local warlords have a long history in Afghanistan.
The core members of the Taliban are mainly Pashtuns. However, Afghanistan is a multi-ethnic country, with Pashtuns accounting for about 42% and Tajiks accounting for 27%, followed by Hazara, Uzbek, Aymac, Turkmen, Baluch and so on.
Different peoples and tribes have differences in customs, culture and language. Afghanistan's predominantly mountainous terrain and old-time traffic blockades gave rise to entrenched tribal politics. Compared with the concept of the state, people of different nationalities and tribes have a stronger sense of identity with the ethnic tribes to which they belong.
In 2018, the Afghan government plans to introduce electronic id cards, and the nationality labeling on the ID cards has triggered fierce battles and even fights among Pashtun and other ethnic politicians. Afghan President Ghani was a Pashtun.
Pashtun politicians believe that the nationality on the IDENTITY card should be "Afghan", but the word "Afghanistan" comes from the Persian language and used to refer to Pashtuns.
Parliamentarians of other nationalities, including ethnic Tajiks, have strongly opposed it, demanding that their identity cards be marked "Islamic Republic of Afghanistan" and that the nationality, tribe and religious affiliation of citizens be indicated.
In addition to the ousted Afghan government, the Taliban last came to power as a first-hand experience of the power of ethnic armed forces and local warlords.
After the Taliban established political power in 1996, the non-Pashtun local armed forces represented by the Tajiks and Uzbeks formed the Northern Alliance against the Taliban, and northern Afghanistan became an anti-Taji armed position. After the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, the Northern Alliance and NATO overthrew the Taliban regime.
Today, former Northern Alliance warlords and descendants of warlords are resisting the Taliban in Panjshir province. Another founder of the Northern Alliance, former Afghan Vice President Dostam and other warlord representatives who fled into Uzbekistan, are also trying to negotiate with the Taliban to join the new Afghan government.
The warlords led by Dostum have spoken that if negotiations with the Taliban fail, the warlords will join forces to form a new group for armed resistance.
<h3>Hazaras and Iran</h3>
In addition to Pashtuns and Tajiks, another major ethnic minority in Afghanistan is the Hazara, which makes up 10 to 20 per cent of the population.
Afghanistan is a predominantly Sunni Muslim country, accounting for more than 80 percent, with the majority of Pashtuns being Sunni. But the Hazara are Shia. On the basis of ethnic contradictions, there are also sectarian clashes between the Hazaras and the Taliban.
It is said that the Hazaras are of Mongol descent, while others are of Turkic descent. The Hazaras are distinctly different from the Pashtuns in appearance, closer to East Asians. Because of their appearance and sectarian differences, the Hazaras have been discriminated against since the beginning of the Pashtun dynasty in Afghanistan, mostly as coolies and slaves.
Afghanistan's neighbor, Iran, is a predominantly Shiite country with old grudges with the Taliban.
In 1998, when the Taliban seized the Shiite holy city of Mazar-i-Sharif in northern Afghanistan, eight Iranian diplomats and an employee of the Islamic Republic of Iran News Agency were killed inside the Iranian consulate.
Iran, which identified the Taliban as the culprit, sent tens of thousands of troops to the border to prepare for war, but eventually changed its plans. After the formation of the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance, Iran provided support for the group.
Accusing the Hazarians of colluding with Iran, coupled with sectarian and ethnic contradictions, the Taliban massacred the Hazaras and forced the Hazaras to change sects when they last came to power. Since then, a large number of Hazaras have fled to Iran, which also provides military training for hazaras.
In the Syrian civil war, the "Fatima Brigade", which is mainly Hazara, was sent to Syria to assist the Syrian government in its war. The current commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force, Kani, has participated in the formation of the Fatima Brigade, which is expected to have between 5,000 and 20,000 soldiers.
When the victory of the Assad government in Syria was decided, the Afghan members of the "Fatima Brigade" returned home one after another. Afghan National Security Agency previously estimated that at least 2,500 to 3,000 Fatima Brigade soldiers have returned to Afghanistan, mostly in central and western Afghanistan.
This time the Taliban are back in power, and the most worried people are also the Hazaras. At present, hazara armed forces in the central Vardak and Dekundi provinces continue to fight the Taliban.
This time, the Taliban, seeking international recognition and foreign support, are trying to create a new image while further co-opting Iran. After the U.S. military entered Afghanistan, Iran changed its strategy toward the Taliban and began to provide weapons and funds to the Taliban to help the Taliban fight against the U.S. military.
Against this backdrop, the Taliban sent a new signal to the Hazaras.
Mawlawi Mahdi, the Taliban's highest-ranking Shiite commander, assured the Hazaras that "they need not worry that the new government will be that of all Muslims." ”
But in practice, there has been news that worries the Hazaras. After the Taliban occupied Bamiyan province in August, they blew up a statue of Abdul Ali Mazari, a Hazara warlord and founder of the Islamic Unity Party of Afghanistan.
It is also reported that the Taliban killed 14 Hazaras in Daikundi province this week, including 12 former government soldiers who surrendered and an 8-year-old girl.
Earlier, Habibi Samangani, a member of the Taliban's Cultural Committee, said that governing government is different from managing armed groups and that the Taliban want all ethnic groups to be represented in the new government, including The Hazaras. He said the "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan" could not ignore the main components of society like the Hazaras.