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China has vowed to keep its embassy in Kabul open and to “strengthen” relations, the Taliban said, as the new Afghan leadership worked to prepare for their new government and gain international recognition.
Islamist militia spokesman Suhail Shaheen said on Friday that a senior official in the Taliban political bureau in Qatar had been told by China’s vice foreign minister that Beijing was also aiming to increase humanitarian aid.
This came as the group claimed to have taken full control of Afghanistan, including the Panjshir Valley where opposition forces had resisted. “By the grace of Allah Almighty, we control all of Afghanistan. The troublemakers have won and the Panjshir is now under our command, ”a Taliban commander told Reuters. The allegations could not be independently verified.
While the West has mainly taken a wait-and-see approach and demanded proof, as the Taliban shift from insurgency to government, more inclusive government and respect for human rights, China said she was looking for “friendly and cooperative” relations – although she, too, had not yet officially recognized the new regime.
Analysts have said that a stable and cooperative administration in Kabul could pave the way for major Chinese investment in infrastructure and other things in Afghanistan, possibly including in the large copper and lithium mines in the disaster-ravaged country. war. Others say the potential for lucrative mining projects has been overstated.
Beijing is also concerned about the threat posed by a small but determined number of violent Islamist extremists in southwest China known to be based in Afghanistan.
Amid mounting international speculation about the form of the new government, Taliban sources repeated on Friday that the movement’s co-founder, Mullah Baradar, would head the new cabinet, which is expected to be unveiled on Saturday.
Baradar, who is in charge of the Taliban political bureau, will be joined by Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob – the son of the late Taliban leader Mullah Omar – and Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai 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,” an official told Reuters. Another said Haibatullah Akhunzada, the Taliban’s supreme leader, would focus on religious issues. Analysts say the reclusive Islamic scholar is expected to retain great influence, however.
The government would consist of 25 ministries, with an advisory council, or shura, of 12 Muslim scholars, sources said, and a loya jirga, or grand assembly, of elders and other officials, scheduled for six to eight months. .
The Taliban have vowed to rule with more restraint than during their previous period of power between 1996 and 2001, when they were ousted by US-led forces in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. However, many Afghans, especially women, are deeply skeptical and fear a decline in rights acquired over the past two decades.
A video shared on social media Thursday appears to show a Taliban victory parade, apparently in Kandahar, featuring seized weapons, military equipment and explosives, but also members of the group’s suicide squad.
A small group of Afghan women demonstrated near the presidential palace in Kabul on Friday, demanding equal rights. Faced with the impending economic collapse and with the UN warning of a humanitarian catastrophe, thousands of people continued to try to flee the country by land.
Elsewhere, signs of international engagement accelerated, with the United Nations resuming humanitarian flights to parts of the country, connecting the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, to Mazar-i-Sharif in northern Afghanistan and Kandahar in northern Afghanistan. South.
Afghanistan’s largest carrier, Ariana Afghan Airlines, also said it would resume domestic flights, starting with a plane from Mazar-i-Sharif to Kabul, later on Friday after getting the “green light” from the Taliban and the United Nations. aviation authorities.
Qatar’s foreign minister said the Gulf state was working with the Taliban to reopen Kabul airport to international traffic as soon as possible, while Turkey said it was also evaluating proposals from the Taliban and ‘others for a role in the management of the airport.
Western Union and Moneygram have both said they are resuming money transfers, on which many Afghans depend on relatives overseas to survive.
Italy’s foreign minister was due to visit Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Qatar and Pakistan to help Afghan refugees on Friday, while his British counterpart was due to visit the region next week, the Italian and British governments said.
Meanwhile, the Taliban, which captured Kabul on August 15 after sweeping over most of the country, continue to face stiff resistance in the Panjshir Valley, north of the capital, where confused reports and often contradictory report violent fighting and loss of life.
Several thousand fighters from regional militias and remnants of the government’s armed and special forces massed in the rugged valley under the leadership of Ahmad Massoud, the son of the legendary former Mujahideen commander Ahmad Shah Massoud.
Efforts to negotiate a settlement appear to have failed, with each side blaming the other for failure and claiming to have inflicted heavy losses. The Panjshir Valley has been a stronghold of resistance for decades, first against the Soviets in the 1980s and then against the Taliban in the 1990s. Neither has succeeded in breaking through its doors. natural defenses of gorges and high ridges.
However, circumstances are very different today and Massoud’s forces lack international support or allies elsewhere in Afghanistan, while the Taliban are now a seasoned force with vast reserves of arms, equipment and ammunition. .
“The Taliban have a huge advantage,” said Nishank Motwani, an Afghan analyst based in Australia, adding that recent victories had emboldened the movement.
“They are well armed and they have the psychological advantage of having brought about the downfall of the government so quickly.
Afghanistan’s new rulers are likely to face an economic crisis, caused by the sudden severing of trade and financial ties, a shortage of liquidity, drought and the ravages of a 20-year conflict that has killed an estimated 240 000 Afghans before US forces completed their rapid and chaotic withdrawal.
With Reuters and AFP
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