KABUL – Pakistan’s Ambassador to Kabul Mansoor Ahmed Khan on Thursday met former Afghan president Hamid Karzai and chief of the High Council for National Reconciliation (HCNR) Abdullah Abdullah to discuss the prevailing situation in the country.
The ambassador said that they held constructive discussions on efforts for lasting stability in Afghanistan, which has now been taken over by the Taliban after a long fight against US-led foreign troops.
Earlier in the day, the Taliban declared formation of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, the formal name of the war-torn country under Taliban rule before they were ousted by US-led forces in the wake of the 9/11 attacks in 2001.
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid in a tweet said that the group had decided to create the Islamic Emirate on the occasion of Afghanistan’s 102nd Independence Day.
The announcement comes four days after the Taliban swept into Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, on Sunday after the West-backed government collapsed and former president Ashraf Ghani went into to exile.
Reports said that the country may be governed by a ruling council with Taliban’s supreme leader Haibatullah Akhundzada as overall incharge.
It further emerged that Akhundzada may appoint one of his deputies as president of Afghanistan.
The Taliban’s supreme leader has three deputies: Mawlavi Yaqoob, son of Mullah Omar, Sirajuddin Haqqani, leader of the powerful militant Haqqani network, and Abdul Ghani Baradar, who heads the Taliban’s political office in Doha and is one of the founding members of the group.
The spokesman said that they wanted to develop relations with all nations.
The Taliban has paced up efforts to form an inclusive government, a demand by the neighbouring countries.
On Wednesday, a Taliban delegation led by a senior leader of the Haqqani Network group, Anas Haqqani, met former Afghan president Hamid Karzai for talks, a Taliban official said on Wednesday, amid efforts by the group to set up a government.
Karzai was accompanied by the ousted government’s main peace envoy Abdullah Abdullah and leader of Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin Hekmatyar in the meeting, said a Taliban official.
Read more: https://pakobserver.net/pakistans-ambassador-back-in-kabul-pia-flights-resumed/
