Taliban to finalise new Afghan govt soon, 80% Doha team likely to be in council

Jeremy

The executives of this Council will lead the government and Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar is likely to head the political office, the Taliban sources said, adding that 80 per cent of this government will be from the Doha Taliban team.

The Taliban have finalised their new government in Afghanistan nearly a fortnight after their violent takeover of Afghanistan - a ‘Shura’ or Religious Council will control and run the executive powers of the nation, top Taliban sources told CNN-News18 today.

This ‘Shura’ will comprise of Taliban elders and other ethnic groups, and women will not be a part of this Council, the sources said.

The executives of this Council will lead the government and Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar is likely to head the political office, the Taliban sources said, adding that 80 per cent of this government will be from the Doha Taliban team.

Since the early 2010s, senior Taliban leaders have been stationed in Doha, Qatar. The original intention was to build an office to foster political reconciliation between the Taliban, the Afghan government, the United States, and other countries. Following the opening of the Taliban office building in 2013, peace talks were halted due to protests from the Afghan government that the office was being presented as the embassy of a government in exile.

For the country’s foreign ministry, the militants are considering Sher Abbas Stanakzai, because of his reach and access to the international world. Hamid Karzai and Abdullah Abdullah are unlikely to get space in the Shura but they will remain in some advisory role, the sources said.