Taliban expand interim cabinet, 27 new members named

Kabul: The Taliban on Tuesday said that they have expanded their interim cabinet by adding 27 new members.

Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesman for the interim government, said the appointments had been made in compliance with orders from Taliban's supreme leader Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, reported Pajhwok Afghan News.

More than two dozen high-level officials, including ministers and deputy ministers, were named.

Maulvi Shahabuddin Delawar has been appointed as acting minister of mines and petroleum and Mullah Mohammad Abbas Akhund as acting minister of disaster management.

Twenty-five others have been appointed as deputy ministers, corps commanders and heads of independent departments, according to a list released by Mujahid, reported Pajhwok Afghan News.

The new names in the interim cabinet of Islamic Emirate include - Maulvi Shahabuddin Delavar, acting minister of mines and petroleum; Haji Mullah Mohammad Esa Akhund, deputy minister of mines and petroleum; Mullah Mohammad Abbas Akhund, acting minister of disaster management; Maulvi Sharafuddin, deputy minister of disaster management; Maulvi Enayatullah, deputy minister of disaster management; Maulvi Hamdullah Zahed, procurement director; Sheikh Abdul Rahim, deputy director of procurement; Maulvi Qudratullah Jamal, Supreme Audit Office head; Maulvi Ezatullah, deputy chief of the Supreme Audit Office; Maulvi Mohammad Yousef Mastari, acting director of prisons; Mullah Habibullah Fazli, deputy director of prisons; Maulvi Keramatullah Akhundzadah, head of the Administrative Reform and Civil Service Commission; Maulvi Ahmad Taha, deputy minister of border and tribal affairs; Maulvi Gul Zarin, head of Kochi affairs at the Ministry of Border and Tribal Affairs; Sheikh Maulvi Abdul Hakim, deputy minister of martyr and disabled affairs; Maulvi Saeed Ahmad Shahidkhel, deputy minister of education; Maulvi Abdul Rahman Halim, deputy minister of rural rehabilitation and development; Maulvi Atiqullah Azizi, deputy minister of finance and administration at the Ministry of Information and Culture; Mullah Faizullah Akhund, deputy minister of youth affairs at the Ministry of Information and Culture; Maulvi Saifuddin Tayeb, deputy minister of communications; Maulvi Fathullah Mansour, head of Kandahar airport; Mohammad Ismail, executive commander of the Military Court; Maulvi Esmatullah Asim, deputy head of the Red Cross; Maulvi Rahimullah Mahmoud, deputy commander of the Al-Badar Corps in Kandahar; Maulvi Abdul Samad, deputy commander of Azam Corps in Helmand; Mullah Nasser Akhund, deputy minister of finance; and Maulvi Arefullah Aref, deputy minister of energy and water.

The Taliban in early September formed the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) and had appointed 33 more cabinet ministers that neither have women nor mainstream politicians from previous regimes rather it appointed the world's most dreaded and wanted cabinet ministers.

In September, the Taliban announced a new list of 17 more ministers in the caretaker Afghanistan Cabinet.

The latest list of 27 new members in the cabinet too excludes any women representation.