‘Taliban set to unveil govt led by Akhundzada soon’

KABUL: The Taliban and other Afghan leaders have reached a “consensus” on the formation of a new government and cabinet under the leadership of the group’s top spiritual leader, an official said.

Taliban supreme commander Haibatullah Akhundzada will be the top leader of any governing council, Bilal Karimi, a member of the group’s cultural commission said on Wednesday. Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar,

one of Akhundzada’s three deputies and the main public face of the Taliban, is likely to be in charge of the daily functioning of the government, Karimi added.

“The consultations on forming an inclusive Afghan government within the Islamic Emirate’s leaders, with the leaders from previous government and other influential leaders have officially ended,” Karimi said.

KANDAHAR: A Black Hawk copter flew circles over the Taliban’s spiritual heartland in Kandahar on Wednesday while fighters stood aboard captured Humvees as the Islamists paraded their plundered US military hardware.

On the highway towards Kandahar, a long line of green armoured fighting vehicles drove in single file down, with white-and-black Taliban flags attached to aerials.

Fighters manned the controls of multi-purpose trucks - used earlier by US, Nato and Afghan forces - while others clambered over the vehicles at Ayno Maina, a town outside the city. At Kandahar’s cricket ground, hundreds gathered to listen to speeches heaping praise on the Taliban, while elder leaders sat in the players’ dugout.

The Taliban’s secretive supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada is living in Kandahar, the group disclosed last Sunday.