The Taliban are likely to announce the formation of a new government in Afghanistan by today. The announcement of a new administration could be made after Friday afternoon prayers, two Taliban sources told the AFP news agency.
Taliban co-founder Mullah Baradar will lead a new Afghan government, sources in the Islamist group told Reuters on Friday, as its fighters battled forces loyal to the vanquished republic in the Panjshir Valley north of Kabul.
Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob, the son of late Taliban founder Mullah Omar, and Sher Mohammad Abbas will take senior positions in the government, the sources said.
Haibatullah Akhunzada, the Taliban’s supreme religious leader, will focus on religious matters and governance within the framework of Islam, another Taliban source said.
The announcement comes as Afghanistan’s economy is battling the ramifications of an ongoing drought and the conflict that has killed an estimated 240,000 Afghans.
After ruling the country from 1996 to 2001, by forcing the radical implementation of the Sharia Law, the militant group has promised a relatively flexible way of rule this time.
