Taliban co-founder Mullah Baradar to lead interim government in Afghanistan

However, the new government’s most immediate priority should be to avoid the collapse of an economy gripped by drought and the ravages of conflict that has killed an estimated 240,000 Afghans.

Baradar, who heads the Taliban’s political bureau, will be joined by Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob, the son of the late Taliban co-founder, Mullah Omar, and Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai, in senior government positions, said three sources.

“All the top leaders have arrived in Kabul, where preparations are in the final stages to announce the new government,” a Taliban official told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

Haibatullah Akhunzada, the supreme religious leader of the Taliban, will focus on religious issues and governance within the framework of Islam, another Taliban source said.

The Taliban, who captured Kabul on August 15 after sweeping most of the country, faced resistance in the Panjshir Valley, where heavy fighting and casualties were reported.

Several thousand fighters from regional militias and remnants of government armed forces gathered in the rugged valley under the leadership of Ahmad Massoud, the son of former Mujahedin commander Ahmad Shah Massoud.

Efforts to negotiate a settlement appear to have failed, with each side blaming the other for failure.

While the Taliban have expressed their willingness to form a consensus government, a source close to the militant movement said the interim government being formed will be made up entirely of Taliban members.

It would include 25 ministries, with an advisory council, or shura, of 12 Muslim scholars, the source added.

A loya jirga, or grand assembly, is also scheduled within six to eight months, bringing together elders and representatives of Afghan society to discuss a constitution and the structure of the future government, the source said.

All sources expected the interim government cabinet to be finalized soon, but differed on the exact timing, with some saying it would be settled later on Friday while others believed it would take until the middle of. next week.

The government’s legitimacy in the eyes of international donors and investors will be crucial. Aid groups have warned of impending disaster and the economy, years dependent on millions of dollars in foreign aid, is on the brink of collapse.

Long before the Taliban took power, many Afghans struggled to feed their families amid severe drought and millions were now at risk of starving, aid agencies said.

“Since August 15, we have seen the crisis accelerate and deepen, with the looming economic collapse brewing for this country,” Mary-Ellen McGroarty, director of the World Food Program in Afghanistan, told Reuters.

US President Joe Biden’s administration has no plans to unlock billions of Afghan gold, parked investment and foreign currency reserves in the US that it froze after the Taliban takeover .

In a positive development, a senior executive from Western Union Co (WU.N) said the money transfer company was resuming money transfer services to Afghanistan in line with US pressure to continue humanitarian work.

The Taliban applied a radical form of sharia, or Islamic law, when they ruled from 1996 to 2001.

But this time around, the movement has tried to present a more moderate face to the world, promising to protect human rights and refrain from retaliation against old enemies.

The United States, the European Union and others have questioned those assurances, saying formal recognition of the new government and the resulting flow of economic aid depended on action.