Taliban appoints key officials, including education and defence minister

In the wake of a financial crunch in the country, Taliban has immediately appointed an acting head of the central bank along with an acting education minister.

Haji Muhammad Idris, a former detainee of the Guantanamo Bay, has been appointed acting head of the Central Bank of Afghanistan. The new chief has instructed staff to return to work immediately but it is unclear how much experience the new chief has in banking or finance.

Taliban’s appointment of the head of the central bank comes at a time when most banks in the country are closed and ATMs have run out of cash.

On the other hand, Taliban has appointed Sakhaullah as acting minister of education, which shows that education is also one of Taliban’s top priorities. The new education minister has said that he is committed to educating girls within the limits of Sharia law.

Meanwhile, a foreign news agency claimed that Taliban had appointed Gul Agha as finance minister, Mullah Abdul Qayyum Zakir as acting defence minister, Sadr Ibrahim as interior minister, Najibullah as intelligence chief, Mullah Shirin as governor of Kabul and Hamdullah Nomani as mayor of the capital.

Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen, however, clarified that no one is under prosecution of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and no door-to-door searches are being conducted.

“General amnesty has been granted, no accountability with anyone, rather we are focusing on the future,” he said in his Twitter message.

Earlier, the Taliban had warned that a new policy will be followed if the US forces were unable to complete their withdrawal by August 31.