Amu: Taliban leader Haibatullah Akhundzada has appointed five new provincial police chiefs in recent weeks, bypassing Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani, who has been absent from public view for over a month, sources said. Mohammad Asif Siddiqui, a former deputy chairman of the Afghan Senate, said that police appointments now come directly from Akhundzada without the involvement of the Taliban’s Interior Ministry. “Haqqani’s faction is increasingly sidelined, and they are now looking to strengthen their ties in the Arab world and build trust with the United States,” Siddiqui said. Click here to read more (external link).