Taliban to form 'inclusive' caretaker govt in Afghanistan

A member of  the  Taliban shura (consultation committee) has said that the group has decided to form an "inclusive" caretaker government in Afghanistan.

The Taliban toppled the former  Afghan government on August 15, ousting president Ashraf Ghani in a 10-day lightning offensive across the country. 

According to the Taliban shura member, the caretaker government will be formed inclusively by Taliban commanders and leaders from all Afghan ethnicities and tribal backgrounds in the country.

Currently, a dozen names are being considered to be appointed as the new government officials, said the shura member. 

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.