Afghan Interim Government: Here is all you need to know about the newly appointed cabinet members

The Taliban on Tuesday announced an Afghan interim government comprising 33 cabinet members, filling top positions with veterans of the militant group who commanded the 20-year old fight against the US-led military coalition.

Here are some details about the main appointed members of the cabinet:

Mohammad Hasan Akhund as acting Prime Minister

Mohammad Hassan Akhund is the longtime head of the Taliban’s powerful decision-making group, Rehbari Shura. He was first the foreign minister and then deputy prime minister during the Taliban’s last rule from 1996 to 2001.

He hails from Kandahar, the birthplace of the Taliban. A UN sanctions report described him as a “close associate and political adviser” to Mullah Omar.

Some people see Akhund as more political than religious. His control over the leadership council also gave him a say in military affairs.

Abdul Ghani Baradar as acting Deputy Prime Minister

Abdul Ghani Baradar was a close friend of Mullah Omar, who gave him his name, “Baradar” or “brother.”

Baradar served as the deputy defense minister when the Taliban last ruled Afghanistan.

In 2010, he was detained and imprisoned in Pakistan. After his release in 2018, he supervised the Taliban’s political office in Doha, becoming one of the most notable figures in peace talks with the United States.

Amir Khan Muttaqi as acting Foreign Minister

Amir Khan Muttaqi was appointed as the minister of culture & information and the education minister during the previous Taliban government. He was later sent to Qatar as a member of the peace commission and negotiation team that held talks with the US.

Mullah Yaqoob as acting Defence Minister

Son of the Taliban’s founder Mullah Omar, Mullah Yaqoob had initially sought to succeed his father in 2015. 

Last year, Yaqoob was named as overall head of the Taliban military commission, supervising all military actions in Afghanistan.

Although considered a relative moderate by some Western analysts, Taliban commanders said he was among the leaders urging the military campaign against the cities to be stepped up in the weeks before the fall of Kabul.

Sirajuddin Haqqani as acting Interior Minister

The leader of the influential Haqqani network, Sirajuddin Haqqani, succeeded as its head following his father’s death, Jalaluddin Haqqani, in 2018.

Zabihullah Mujahid as acting Deputy Information Minister

The longtime spokesman for the Taliban, Zabihullah Mujahid, has been the significant conduit for information on the group’s activities for more than a decade. He used to post details of suicide attacks through his Twitter account regularly.

No photo of him existed until he gave his first press conference following the fall of Kabul last month. For years, The US military intelligence assumed Mujahid was a persona for several individuals running the group’s media activities.

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