Form of words:
a A week earlier, worried Afghans and trusted officials in the Biden administration were trying to comfort themselves with news from Mullah Abdul Ghani. Baradar to lead new Taliban government in Kabul.
It seemed like the least bad choice. As leader of the group’s political wing, Baradar belonged to the Taliban. chief representative in peace talks with the US in Qatar, and was thought to hold more liberal views than most military commanders. In interviews, he promised an “inclusive” government, representing all the ethnic and tribal groups of the country.
As it turned out, Baradar himself must have been lucky to join the government. announced on Tuesday, the new caretaker administration is dominated by the Taliban military faction, with radicals in key positions. As one of the two deputy prime ministers, Baradar is only at the third level of the hierarchy. He will report to Prime Minister Mullah Mohamed Hassan Akhund, who will in turn answer to Supreme Leader Haibatullah Akhundzada.
Baradar’s allegation has dealt a blow to the Afghan hopes of Merciful, Sajjan “Taliban 2.0.” Far from being inclusive, the cabinet is entirely male, hailing from the Pashtun community and has no representation of the Shia minority. This makes it even more difficult to believe the group’s other assurances, whether about women’s freedom or religious tolerance.
Even more dangerous for the wider world, the new system in Kabul is full of people who would be welcomed into the high tables of al-Qaeda and Islamic State. Government structure has tallied the odds on President Biden’s gamble that the Taliban will Build Common Cause With Washington In the fight against Jihadi terrorism.
Most prominent among the hardliners in office is Sirajuddin Haqqani, a US designated terrorist Has longstanding links with al-Qaeda and other jihadist groups. Afghans with a sick sense of humor can now claim $10 million reward offered by FBI “for information leading to the arrest” of his new interior minister.
if Mohamed Yacob, the defense minister does not have Haqqani’s terrorist credentials, he more than makes up for it in the lineage: he is the eldest son of Mullah Omar, the Taliban’s first supreme leader and host of Osama bin Laden. Yacoub has overseen Taliban military operations in recent years, as the group has adopted many of al-Qaeda’s tactics, including suicide bombings against civilian targets.
The new intelligence chief, Abdul Haq Wasik, completes a trio of security bosses. he is under UN sanctions For his role in the previous Taliban administration, when he was “in charge of handling relations with foreign fighters belonging to al-Qaeda and their training camps in Afghanistan.” (More than half the 33-member cabinet is subject to UN sanctions.)
If al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri could pick three men to run Afghanistan’s security services, it’s a safe bet that Haqqani, Yacoub and Wasik would have topped his list. The Biden administration must recognize that they will make it their job to once again make Afghanistan a safe haven for terrorism.
This is unlikely to be much consolation to Washington, but the government in Kabul will also alert other countries interested in Afghanistan. In China, for example, there would be unease over army chief Qari Fasihuddin, who has long ties to the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, which is known as Beijing. Allegations of terrorism in his Xinjiang province. (The Trump administration last year removed ETIM from the State Department’s list of terrorist groups.)
Meanwhile, the Shia bandh will cause serious concern in Iran, which considers itself a protector of the minority sect. There fear of starting again About the persecution of the Shia Hazara community in the late 1990s that characterized the previous Taliban administration.
And there is a bad news for India, which huge investment in afghanistan in the last 20 years. The extremists have close links with Islamabad. The Taliban has historically sided with Pakistan in its dispute with India over Kashmir, and many Indians fear the group will contribute more than just moral support for the rebels in the troubled area.
As in Washington, fingers crossed in Beijing, Tehran and New Delhi in the hope of an Afghan government led by Baradar. Now all of them must be prepared for the worst.-bloomberg
Read also: Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the quiet Taliban deal maker who plays a key role for the Afghan future
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