Afghanistan: Taliban expected to announce new govt today

The Taliban is expected to announce a new government in Afghanistan within hours amid the UN's warning of the impending food crisis, urging the global community to step up support for the war-ravaged country. Media reports suggest that the cabinet could be presented after morning prayers on Friday and a ceremony was being prepared at the presidential palace in the capital city Kabul.

Anamullah Samangani, from the Taliban's cultural commission on Thursday, said that Mullah Hebatullah Akhundzada will be the leader of the new government. "Consultations are almost finalised on the new government, and the necessary discussions have also been held about the cabinet. The Islamic government that we will announce will be a ... model for the people. There is no doubt about the presence of the Commander of the Faithful (Akhunzada) in the government. He will be the leader of the government," Samangani said.

Earlier on Tuesday, senior Taliban leader Anas Haqqani had said the group has covered about 90 to 95 per cent. The senior member said the new government aims "to maintain and be faithful" to what the group "are fighting for" and "to serve the Afghan people and to serve Islam," Al Jazeera reported. Even as the government is being announced, two weeks after the fall of Kabul, the role of women in government offices is still unclear. Taliban said that women will not be appointed in higher ranking positions despite, TOLO News reported citing one of the group's officials.

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The Taliban has taken control of war-torn Afghanistan, but there is still an important gap between naming a government and fully taking up its functions. Matthieu Aikins, writing in The New York Times said that two weeks since Kabul fell, the Taliban officials are still attempting to take up the functions of a new government on the eve of its announcement.

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But there is still an important gap between naming a government and fully taking up its functions, says Aikins. In Kabul, as in much of the country, the most important government departments, apart from street-level security, are not functioning. The Taliban has urged officials with the former government to stay in their roles. But in the face of a looming economic crisis, including a worsening cash shortage that has put strains on the availability of fuel, food and other staples, the past two weeks have been a scramble by the Taliban to establish themselves.