Direct Afghans to hand over weapons, govt property
Kabul
The Taliban have decided to form an inclusive caretaker government in Afghanistan, a member of the Taliban shura (consultation committee) has said.
The group overthrew the former Ashraf Ghani-led Afghan government after quick strikes across the country, culminating in the fall of Kabul on August 15.
The Taliban shura member said that the caretaker government will include leaders from all ethnicities and tribal backgrounds in the country, as well as Taliban commanders, and currently, a dozen names are being considered to be made part of the new government.
Initially, appointments in the new government will be made for the ministries of judiciary, internal security, defence, foreign affairs, finance, information and a special assignment for Kabul’s affairs, said the shura member.
He further stated that the Taliban co-founder, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar. is present in the Afghan capital, while the Taliban Chief of Army, Mullah Muhammad Yaqoob has left Kandahar for Kabul, to have initial discussions on forming the government.
The decision is apparently moved by the recent bomb attacks outside Hamid Karzai Airport, engaged in evacuating thousands of people from Afghanistan following the Taliban takeover. The responsibility of the attack, killing over 100 people, was claimed by Daesh Khorasan.
If the conciliatory messaging put out by the movement since its lightning seizure of Kabul is anything to go by, the group aims to be more tolerant as compared to their harsh 1996-2001 rule.
A source affiliated with the Taliban said that the group remains committed to the 2020 Doha accord, signed with the United States, which obliges the Taliban to not using the Afghan soil for any terrorist activity, as reported by Al Jazeera.
Meanwhile, Afghan citizens have been directed by the Taliban to hand over all weapons and ammunition, besides government vehicles and property, to the concerned authorities.
The directive was issued by Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid in a Twitter post on Saturday. Zabihullah’s post said that the citizens are advised to turn in the items within a week.
“Announcement by the security of the Islamic Emirate: All those in Kabul city who possess vehi-cles, weapons, ammunition, or other government property, are being informed to handover the said items to the relevant authorities of the Islamic Emir-ate within a week in order to avoid any legal action against them,” wrote Zabihullah.
Similar orders were issued by the Taliban earlier, directing the civilians to surrender the weapons they had kept for their safety since “the Taliban are now there to ensure your safety”.
