Taliban prepare ceremony at prez palace to announce government
Women take part in a rare protest in Afghanistan seeking their right to work under the new rulers
KABUL: Afghanistan’s new Taliban rulers were preparing their government on Thursday, more than two weeks after the Islamist militia’s capture of Kabul brought a chaotic end to 20 years of war, while the economy teetered near collapse.
Taliban official Ahmadullah Muttaqi said on social media a ceremony was being prepared at the presidential palace in Kabul and Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said a new government was a matter of a few days away.
The legitimacy of the government in the eyes of international donors and investors will be crucial for the economy as the country battles drought and the ravages of a conflict. The Taliban have promised safe passage out of the country for any foreigners or
Afghans left behind by the huge airlift which ended when US troops withdrew on Monday. But with Kabul airport still closed, many were seeking to flee over land. Qatar has said the Gulf state was talking with the Taliban and Turkey about potential technical support to restart operations at Kabul airport, which would facilitate assistance and possibly more evacuations.
KABUL: The Taliban said on Thursday they were close to forming a new government, while dozens of women held a rare protest for the right to work under a new regime that faces enormous economic hurdles and deep public mistrust.
The Islamist militants, who have pledged a softer brand of rule than during their brutal reign of 1996-2001, must now transform from insurgent group to governing power.
The announcement of a cabinet, which two Taliban sources told AFP may take place on Friday following afternoon prayers, would come just days after the chaotic pull-out of US forces from Afghanistan, ending America’s longest war with an astounding military victory for the Islamist group.
Now, all eyes are on whether the Taliban can deliver a cabinet capable of managing a war-ravaged economy and honour the movement’s pledges of a more “inclusive” government.
Speculation is rife about the make-up of a new government, although a senior official said on Wednesday that women were unlikely to be included.
Senior leader Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai - a hardliner in the first Taliban administration - told BBC Pashto that while women could continue working, there “may not” be a place for them in the cabinet of any future government or any other top post.
Demonstration in Herat
In the western city of Herat, some 50 women took to the streets in a rare, defiant protest for the right to work and over the lack of women’s participation in the new government.
“It is our right to have education, work and security,” the protesters
chanted in unison, said an AFP journalist who witnessed the protest. “We are not afraid, we are united,” they added.
Herat is a relatively cosmopolitan city on the ancient silk road near the Iranian border. It is one of the more prosperous in Afghanistan and girls have already returned to school there.
Pak seals key border
Pakistan on Thursday temporarily closed a key border crossing with Afghanistan, apparently due to fear of the influx of refugees eager to leave their homeland. Chaman border crossing the second-largest commercial border point with Afghanistan after Torkham town in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa - has been closed due to security threats, Geo News reported.
Earlier in the day, interior minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said the Chaman crossing may
be closed for some days due to security threats. “We will be closing the Chaman crossing for a while,” he said, without specifying how long the border would be shut.
Qatar working to reopen Kabul airport ‘soon’
Qatar is working with the Taliban to reopen Kabul’s airport as soon as possible, its foreign minister said on Thursday, urging the hardline Islamists to allow Afghans to leave.
The airport, the scene of a frenzied evacuation which ended with the US troop withdrawal on Tuesday, is out of operation with much of its infrastructure degraded or destroyed.
“We are working very hard and we remain hopeful that we will be able to operate it as soon as possible,” said Qatar’s foreign minister Sheikh Mohammed al-Thani.