New Afghan government: PM on UN blacklist, interior minister on terror list

Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund was appointed the interim prime minister of Afghanistan after weeks of negotiations that saw Pakistan’s ISI chief rushing to Kabul. His appointment is being seen as a compromise after the in-fighting between the so-called moderates and hardliners in the Taliban.

All 33 members of the entirely male cabinet are from the Taliban hierarchy or the Haqqani Network. Many of them have served in the Taliban regime of the 1990s. A majority of the cabinet members, including Akhund and his first deputy Abdul Ghani Baradar, have been sanctioned by the UN Security Council. Interior minister Sirajuddin Haqqani has a US bounty of $5 million on his head. Defence minister Mullah Muhammad Yaqoob is the eldest son of Taliban founder Mullah Omar, a dreaded terrorist.

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A majority of the 33 members in the caretaker setup, including Akhund and his first deputy Abdul Ghani Baradar, have been sanctioned by the UN Security Council, while Sirajuddin Haqqani, who was named the interior minister, has a US bounty of $5 million on his head. Mullah Muhammad Yaqoob, the eldest son of Taliban founder Mullah Omar, was named the defence minister. Most of the 33 members are Pashtuns and there are two Tajiks and one Uzbek.

Hassan Akhund, Interim prime minister

He has earlier served as deputy foreign minister from 1996 to 2001, when the group was last in power. He is one of the founders of the Taliban movement, who is on a UN blacklist. His strength is said to be his religious influence, rather than the military acumen.

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Akhund, who is believed to be in his sixties, was a close associate of Taliban founder Mullah Omar and served as his political advisor. He also served as governor of Kandahar province, the Taliban stronghold in southern Afghanistan.

Sirajuddin Haqqani, acting interior minister

Sirajuddin Haqqani is the head of the militant group the Haqqani network, which is said to have been behind some of the deadliest attacks. These include a truck bomb explosion in Kabul in 2017 that killed more than 150 people.

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The Haqqani network, which maintains close ties with al- Qaeda, has been designated a foreign terrorist organisation by the US. According to the FBI’s profile on Haqqani, he is wanted for questioning in connection with the January 2008 attack on a hotel in Kabul… that killed six people, including an American citizen”.

Haqqani is also said to be involved in the planning of the assassination attempt on Afghanistan former president Hamid Karzai in 2008.

The Haqqani network has also been blamed for an attack on the US embassy and nearby Nato bases in Kabul on September 12, 2011. Eight people were killed in that attack.