Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid speaks during a press conference in Kabul, Afghanistan Tuesday, Sept. 7, 2021. The Taliban on Tuesday announced a caretaker Cabinet stacked with veterans of their harsh rule in the late 1990s and subsequent 20-year battle against the U.S.-led coalition and its Afghan government allies. The line-up announced at the press conference is not likely to win the international support the Taliban so desperately need to avoid an economic meltdown. (AP Photo/Muhammad Farooq)
Zabihullah Mujahid
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Taliban’s interim government for Afghanistan is all men. It is stacked with veterans of their hardline rule from the 1990s and the 20-year battle against the U.S.-led coalition. The choices seem unlikely to win the international support the new leaders desperately need to avoid an economic meltdown.
Appointed as interior minister was Sirajuddin Haqqani. He is on the FBI’s most-wanted list and whose network is believed to still be holding at least one American hostage. Haqqani headed the feared Haqqani network that is blamed for many deadly attacks and kidnappings.
The announcement came hours after Taliban fired their guns into the air to disperse protesters in Kabul and arrested several journalists.
The US Military withdrawal from Afghanistan completed at the end of August. During the withdrawal, 13 US Service members were killed during an attack outside Kabul’s International Airport.
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