Bloomberg: The man the U.S. and its allies hoped would be a moderate voice in Afghanistan’s Taliban government has been sidelined after a dramatic shootout in the presidential palace in Kabul, according to people with knowledge of the matter… Khalil ul Rahman Haqqani rose from his chair and began punching the Taliban leader… Click here
By Ron Synovitz Abubakar Siddique Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty September 15, 2021 It has been just a month since Taliban militants seized control of Kabul and declared Afghanistan as an “Islamic emirate” that will uphold the militant movement’s interpretation of “Islamic rules and Shari’a law.” But already, the new Taliban regime is struggling to deal with
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty September 14, 2021 The Taliban is denying reports that the former head of their political office in Doha has been killed in a shoot-out with another senior Taliban figure during an argument over how to divide power in a Taliban-led caretaker government. The denials come amid persistent rumors of internal divisions
By Abubakar Siddique Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty September 7, 2021 The powerful head of Pakistan’s notorious Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency appeared relaxed in his brown chinos and blue blazer as the media gathered after he arrived at Kabul’s five-star Sarena Hotel. “Please don’t worry — everything will be okay,” Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed told a Western
By Frud Bezhan Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty September 7, 2021 The Taliban has formed a new, theocratic government in Afghanistan, weeks after the August 15 collapse of the internationally recognized administration in Kabul and within days of international troops’ departure. Taliban leader Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, a hard-line cleric and former chief justice, has been named supreme
Aamaj News: Zabihullah Mujahid has announced that Mullah Mohammad Hassan will lead the new government. Mullah Baradar was appointed as first deputy. Mawlavi Hannafi was appointed as second deputy. Mullah Yaqub was appointed by the Taliban to head the Ministry of National Defense. Sirajuddin Haqqani has been appointed by the Taliban as acting interior minister.
Abdul Sayed VOA News September 5, 2021 After two decades of near-constant warfare and destruction, the Taliban now face the need to figure out how to govern the underdeveloped and impoverished nation they have just recaptured. Some insight into how that may progress can be gleaned from a closer look at the group’s leadership and
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty September 3, 2021 The Taliban appears to have moved closer to forming a new government in Afghanistan as the hard-line Islamist group continues to battle resistance fighters in a key opposition stronghold north of Kabul. The militants face the challenge of shifting gears from being an insurgent group to governing power
Press TV September 1, 2021 The Taliban and other Afghan leaders have reached “consensus” on the formation of a new cabinet under the leadership of the group’s top spiritual leader, officials say, against the backdrop of the United States’ withdrawal of the last division of its forces. Bilal Karimi, a member of the Taliban’s cultural
Ron Synovitz Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty August 25, 2021 As the Taliban transforms its military chain of command into a governing structure for Afghanistan, alliances and tribal configurations that kept two rival Taliban factions together in recent years are now being tested. “Conquering a country is always the easy part. Ruling it, in Afghanistan’s case,