Taliban Prepares to Unveil New Government amid Economic Collapse

Taliban rulers of Afghanistan were reported preparing on Thursday to reveal their new government in the middle of economic breakdown more than two weeks after the Islamist militia captured Kabul and brought a chaotic end to almost 20 years of war.

A ceremony was being prepared at the presidential palace in Kabul as per the post of a Taliban official Ahmadullah Muttaqi on his social media. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid did not provide an exact date but it will be in a matter of few more days.

Taliban made a promised to allow safe passage out of the country for all the foreigners or Afghans left behind when U.S. troops left last Monday. Since Kabul airport is currently closed, many were trying to flee overland to neighboring countries.

The British Foreign Office said in a statement that “The prospects of getting Kabul airport up and running and safe passage for foreign nationals and Afghans across land borders are top of the agenda.”

Currently, the supreme Taliban leader has three deputies: Mawlavi Yaqoob, son of the movement’s late founder Mullah Omar; Sirajuddin Haqqani, leader of the powerful Haqqani network; and Abdul Ghani Baradar, one of the founding members of the group.

If we can still recall, the council of Taliban ran their first government that brutally enforced a radical form of sharia Islamic law last 1996 but was stopped by the U.S. forces in 2001.

Gunnar Wiegand, the managing director of the European Commission for Asia and the Pacific, said “The European Union would not formally recognize the Islamist group until it met conditions including the formation of an inclusive government, respect for human rights, and unfettered access for aid workers.”

Britain’s Raab said there was a need to engage with the Taliban on Afghanistan but Britain had no immediate plans to recognize their government.

A report from the group of economic analysts from Fitch Solutions said that Afghanistan’s real gross domestic product is expected to shrink by 9.7% this financial year, and will further drop by 5.2% in the coming year of 2022.