Taliban in Process of Forming Government in Afghanistan

Aug. 17 , 2021 (EIRNS)—Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid held the group’s first press conference since taking power in Kabul today, during which he made a number of important points:

• A general amnesty has already been issued for all employees, police, and military personnel of the previous government and collaborators with the U.S. and NATO.

• All foreigners will be protected.

• The Taliban is calling for help from foreign nations to rebuild the country’s infrastructure.

• There will be zero opium production soon.

• Women will be allowed to get education and work, but according to Islamic traditions.

• The Taliban wants normal relations and cooperation with all neighboring countries.

The situation in Kabul city will soon be back to normal, Mujahid said. “We want to establish a government that includes all sides,” Mujahid said, adding that the Taliban want an end to the war.

Earlier, an unnamed official told The Associated Press this morning that senior Taliban leader Amir Khan Muttaqi is in Kabul negotiating with Kabul’s political leadership, including Abdullah Abdullah. The official says the talks underway in the Afghan capital are aimed at bringing other non-Taliban leaders into the government that Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen has said will be an “inclusive Afghan government.”

Taliban leaders in Doha were also reported to be in discussions on a new government. A high-ranking official of the Taliban told TOLOnews that their leadership is busy in discussions in Doha and is in contact with the international community and political parties within Afghanistan. Warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and former President Hamid Karzai were reported to be traveling to Qatar to meet with Taliban leaders to discuss power sharing and the shape of the coming government.