The Taliban aim to unveil a new governing framework for Afghanistan in the next few weeks, a spokesman for the Islamist movement had said after the insurgents’ swift takeover of the South Asian nation. The Taliban have sought to present a more moderate face since a lightning takeover, but ruled with an iron fist from 1996 to 2001 before being toppled by US-led forces for sheltering al Qaeda militants behind the September 11 attacks. Soon, the hardliners appointed Gul Agha as the interim Finance Minister, Sadr Ibrahim as acting Interior Minister and former Guantanamo detainee Mullah Abdul Qayyum Zakir as acting Defence Minister.
Here’s all you need to know about the new Afghan government officials:
Gul Agha
According to information on UN Security Council’s website, Gul Agha Ishakzai was listed on July 20, 2010, as being associated with al-Qaida, Osama bin Laden or the Taliban for “supporting acts or activities of” the Taliban.
Agha was the head of the Taliban’s financial commission and was part of a recently created Taliban council that coordinated the collection of zakat (Islamic tax) from Baluchistan Province, Pakistan. He has also collected money for suicide attacks in Kandahar, Afghanistan, and has been involved in the disbursement of funds to Taliban fighters and their families.
A childhood friend of Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, Agha has served as Omar’s principal finance officer and one of his closest advisors. At one time, no one was allowed to meet Mullah Omar unless approved by him. He lived in the presidential palace with Omar during the Taliban regime.
In December 2005, he facilitated the movement of people and goods to Taliban training camps; in late 2006 he traveled abroad to obtain weapon parts.
Ibrahim Sadr
Ibrahim Sadr has been with the Taliban since its emergence in 1994. Before that, he was involved in the Mujahideen battle against the Soviet troops. Sadr was from Afghanistan’s Alakozai tribe and his name was Khodaidad. He changed his name to Ibrahim, which is the name of a prophet from Islam. Many reports claim that he is not from Kandahar province but from Helmand province. After the war with the Soviet troops ended, he shifted to Peshawar in Pakistan to teach in a madrassa where Sadr or president title was added to his name by the students there says a report from the Asia Times.
Ibrahim Sadr was given the responsibility to control the Taliban’s defence department managing Soviet fighter jets, helicopter gunships and transport planes after the Taliban’s takeover in 1996 and he played an important role in locating the Taliban’s enemies to rise in the ranks. An extreme hardliner in his religious views, Sadr used his days in the previous Taliban government to develop close contacts with jihadist or terrorist groups and became quite close to Al Qaeda.
During the US attack in 2001, Sadr was the Taliban’s mid-level commander defending Kabul. After the Taliban fled Kabul and Afghanistan, Sadr decided to disappear and again shifted his base to Peshawar in Pakistan. His location was not known to the outside world. It was the time when his meteoric rise in the Taliban started. He was very close to Taliban founder Mullah Omar, and Akhtar Mansour who succeeded Mullah Omar.
From an influential Taliban commander, he was appointed Taliban’s military chief in 2014. Taliban announced it in 2016.
Qayyum Zakir
Qayyum Zakir, an experienced commander in the ranks, was a close associate of Mullah Mohammad Omar, the Taliban’s founder. During the Taliban’s uprising in 2001, US soldiers detained Zakir.
He was held in the high-security Guantanamo Bay jail until 2007, before he was handed over to the Afghan government.
Zakir joined the Taliban movement in 1997 and later took part in the Afghan civil war. During the Taliban rule in Afghanistan, Zakir held positions of deputy army commander, northern front commander and Minister of Defence.
After his release, Zakir rose through the ranks of the Taliban, running military operations in Helmand and Nimroz provinces before becoming the Taliban’s overall military commander. During his tenure he was often described as one of the movement’s hardliners.
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