Afghanistan - 7th September 2021

Summary for Tuesday, 8th September

• The Taliban have announced a new interim government for the country and declared it an "Islamic Emirate"
  
• The group's supreme commander Hibatullah Akhundzada urges ministers to uphold Sharia law in Afghanistan
  
• The cabinet includes several figures who fought against the US-led invasion from 2001
  
• Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund, one of the movement's founders, is acting prime minister
  
• Sarajuddin Haqqani, named as interior minister, is leader of the feared Haqqani militant network and wanted by the FBI
  
• No women's affairs minister has been announced, and there are no women named in the interim cabinet
  
• The Taliban took control of Afghanistan more than three weeks ago, following the collapse of the Western-backed government
  
• Earlier on Tuesday the Taliban fired shots to disperse a protest denouncing their rule in Kabul
  

Welcome to our coverage

Welcome back to our live coverage of the situation in Afghanistan.
The Taliban have just announced they are forming an interim government and named Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund as acting prime minister.
A number of other appointments have also been confirmed such as the prime minister’s deputies and foreign minister.
The Taliban took control of the country more than three weeks ago. The announcement of the acting cabinet is a key step in the formation of a Taliban government.
Earlier today the group fired warning shots in Kabul to disperse hundreds of protesters, many of them women.
We’ll be bringing you all the latest developments from the country.

Taliban fire warning shots at protest in Kabul

We'll have more on the Taliban's announcement of an interim government shortly.
Meanwhile, as we've been reporting, the Taliban have fired warning shots to disperse the crowd at a large protest in Kabul.
Video footage from the scene shows people running to safety, while heavy gunfire can be heard in the background.
Hundreds of protesters took to the streets on Tuesday to denounce Taliban rule and demand women's rights.
You can read our latest report on the Kabul protest here.

Who is in the new government?

The Taliban have announced their new interim government for Afghanistan.
Here are the roles that have been announced so far:

• Mullah Mohammad Hasan Akhund, an associate of the movement's late founder Mullah Omar, is to lead the government as acting prime minister
  
• Taliban co-founder Abdul Ghani Baradar will be deputy leader
  
• Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob, who has overseen the group's military operations in Afghanistan, has been named defence minister
  
• Sarajuddin Haqqani, son of the founder of the Haqqani network - designated as a terrorist organisation by the United States - will be the new interior minister
  
• Abas Stanikzai will be deputy foreign minister
  

Blinken denies Americans being prevented from leaving Afghanistan

The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, has denied reports that the Taliban have prevented several hundred people - including Americans - from flying out of an airport in northern Afghanistan.
Reports have emerged over the past several days that up to 1,000 people, including some US citizens, have been stuck at the airport in Mazar-i-Sharif for days awaiting clearance for their flights to depart.
Speaking in Qatar, Blinken said the US was not aware of anyone being held on an aircraft in Mazar-i-Sharif or in any hostage-like situation, as he put it.
He said the militants had assured Washington that they would allow those with the right documents to be evacuated from Afghanistan.
However, he did accept that some people who lacked the necessary travel documentation had been prevented from departing.
"It's my understanding that the Taliban has not denied exit to anyone holding a valid document, but they have said those without valid documents, at this point, can't leave," Blinken said.
It follows complaints by some non-governmental organisations and opposition Republican lawmakers in the US that the Biden administration was not doing enough to help people leave the country.

More on the Taliban leadership

The Taliban interim government is stacked with high-profile members of the group.
However, the Taliban are yet to say whether any role in the government will be played by Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, the Taliban leader.
He has not been seen or heard in public since the group re-took control of Afghanistan last month.
As the Taliban's supreme commander, Akhundzada is in charge of political, military and religious affairs.

Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar (C) is one of the four men who founded the Taliban in Afghanistan

Abdul Ghani Baradar, the government's new deputy leader, is one of the four men who founded the Taliban in Afghanistan in 1994.
He became a lynchpin of the insurgency after the Taliban were toppled by the US-led invasion in 2001. But he was captured in a joint US-Pakistani operation in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi in February 2010.
He remained in prison for eight years, until he was released as part of a plan to facilitate the peace process. He has been the head of the Taliban's political office in Qatar since January 2019.
In 2020, Baradar became the first Taliban leader to communicate directly with a US president after having a telephone conversation with Donald Trump. Before that, Baradar signed the Doha agreement on the withdrawal of US troops on behalf of the Taliban.
Read in full: Who's who in the Taliban leadership

No women feature in Taliban announcement

Announcing the new appointments, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid stressed that the government “is not complete, it is just acting… we will try to take people from other parts of the country”.
However, some observers have noticed that no women feature in the new line-up - and no Minister for Women's Affairs has been announced.

When asked by the BBC's Secunder Kermani why no women had been announced, Ahmadullah Wasiq, from the Taliban Cultural Commission, said the cabinet had not been finalised yet.

Taliban: This is not the time for protest

As the Taliban were finalising their list of government appointees, their fighters were firing warning shots to disperse hundreds of demonstrators in Kabul.
The crowds had gathered to denounce Taliban rule and the support many suspect they receive from Pakistan, as well as to demand women's rights.
When asked for a response, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said all demonstrations need the permission of the justice ministry and the police, and none can happen until the new government is in place.
"We have to accept that nowadays the country has come out of crisis. This is not the time for protest. There was no government yet. There are rules for protest,” he said.
"We know that there are some people behind it who want to fuel instability from outside the country. And they want to destabilise the city and bring chaos into the city. They worry people."

Moving from guns to government

Lyse Doucet - Chief International Correspondent

Taliban officials and the press attended the news conference

A movement which has long moved in the shadows, whose names would surface only on the world’s terrorism watch lists, is now announcing titles used in governments the world over.
Acting Prime Minister Mullah Akhund appears as a compromise candidate after reported rivalries among leading military and political figures who will serve under him. Its caretaker nature also provides breathing space as the Taliban move from guns to government.
It also underlines the Taliban view that a Taliban victory can only mean Taliban rule. Sources say they pushed back against calls for an “inclusive” government. They balked at including former political figures and officials, who’ve had their turn at the top, and especially those tainted by corruption.
“Why should we let others pick our cabinet when other countries pick their own?” was one retort.
As for women, there was never a chance they would be given a ministerial role; the Ministry of Women’s Affairs has, for now, been abolished altogether.

What do we know about Afghanistan's interim prime minister?

Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund has been named as the interim prime minister of Afghanistan.
He served as governor of Kandahar province during the Taliban’s previous rule in the 1990s.
According to the AFP news agency, Akhund was a close aide to the Taliban’s co-founder Mullah Omar, who is currently on a UN blacklist.
He is thought to be in his 60s or potentially older.
A Taliban source told Reuters news agency that Akhund is highly respected within the movement.

Taliban supreme commander tells government to uphold Sharia law

Supreme commander of the Taliban Hibatullah Akhundzada has told the new government to uphold Islamic rules and Sharia law in Afghanistan.
In a statement released in English, he also urged those in charge to protect the country's highest interests and ensure "lasting peace, prosperity and development".
It's the supreme leader's first message since the Taliban swept to power in the country.
Mentioning education, he said the government "will have a duty to provide a healthy and safe environment for religious and modern sciences to all countrymen within the framework of Sharia."
There were already fears that the education of girls and women will suffer under Taliban control, along with other freedoms. During the last Taliban rule, women could not go outside without a male escort and female education was banned.
On Monday, images showed some universities dividing male and female students with curtains or other barriers.

In some university classes, men and women have been divided with barriers

Who is Taliban Supreme Commander Hibatullah Akhundzada?

An undated photo of the Taliban's supreme leader

The Taliban’s Supreme Commander Hibatullah Akhundzada has issued his first message since the militant group took control of Afghanistan – telling the new government it must uphold Sharia law.
Akhundzada, who has headed the Taliban since 2016, is notoriously secretive and has still not been seen in public since Afghanistan fell to the group.
He is believed to be in his 60s and has lived most of his life in Afghanistan.
Although he participated in the Islamist resistance against the Soviet military campaign in Afghanistan in the 1980s, his reputation is more that of a religious leader than a military commander.
Akhundzada was head of the Sharia Courts in the 1990s, when the Taliban meted out punishments under strict Islamic law – publicly executing murderers and adulterers, and amputating the hands and feet of thieves.
You can read more on the Taliban leadership structure here.

How the new government stacks up

Here's a graphic showing who does what in the Taliban's new interim government.

Taliban interior minister is a US 'most wanted terrorist'

Sarajuddin Haqqani, the new acting interior minister of the Taliban government in Afghanistan, is a US "most wanted terrorist".
Haqqani is head of the militant group known as the Haqqani network, who are affiliated with the Taliban and have been behind some of the deadliest attacks in the country's long war.
The US State Department is currently offering a reward of $5 million (£3.6 million) for information leading directly to the arrest of Haqqani.
After the death of his father, Jalaluddin Haqqani, he became the new leader of the network, which is currently one of the region's most powerful and feared militant groups. Some say it is even more influential than the Islamic State group in Afghanistan.
The group, designated by the US as a terrorist organisation, oversees the Taliban's financial and military assets along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
Haqqani is believed to be around 45 years old.
In an opinion piece in the New York Times last year before the signing of the Doha agreement, Haqqani wrote: "For more than four decades, precious Afghan lives have been lost every day. Everyone has lost somebody they loved. Everyone is tired of war. I am convinced that the killing and the maiming must stop."

Countries grapple with thorny issue of Taliban recognition

With their new government in place, the next challenge for the Taliban's leadership will be gaining international recognition of their regime.
Governments around the world have spent several weeks grappling with the thorny question of how they will engage with the new leadership and whether to recognise them as a legitimate government.
The US has already announced that it does not intend to recognise the Taliban's rule, with White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki telling reporters on Tuesday that there would be no "rush to recognition" from the Biden administration.
Last week the UK's Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said that while he intends to engage with the Taliban on some issues, the UK will not "recognise the Taliban as a government".
The Kremlin has taken a more cautious line. A spokesperson said Russia has not yet made any decisions on the recognition of the Taliban government and that it will "very carefully" monitor the situation in Afghanistan.
China has said that it seeks “friendly and co-operative” relations – although it, too, has yet to formally recognise the new regime.
And while Pakistan hasn't recognised the new government either, the head of its intelligence service, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), visited Kabul over the weekend and senior government officials have called for international engagement with the Taliban's regime.
During their last period in power, the Taliban's government was recognised by just three countries, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

UN: 'Only negotiated settlement will bring peace'

Responding to the announcement of the new interim government, a UN spokesperson has told journalists that only a "negotiated and inclusive settlement will bring sustainable peace to Afghanistan".
The agency said earlier on Tuesday that basic services were unravelling in the country, and food and aid supplies are in peril.
Western nations have said they are prepared to send humanitarian aid, but that more extensive economic engagement will depend on the Taliban's actions.

US will be in no rush to recognise this government

Barbara Plett Usher - State Department correspondent, BBC News
The Biden administration has yet to comment on the Taliban’s new caretaker cabinet. But in earlier remarks the Secretary of State Antony Blinken had set two standards by which to judge it.
The first was that it include non-Talibs who represented different communities and interests. The second is what sort of policies it pursued.
On the first, then, the Taliban have disappointed. The group largely drew from its own ranks for cabinet positions, and included no minorities or women. On the second benchmark, which Mr Blinken said was more important, the Taliban went some way to meet international demands. In a policy statement they promised that they would not let the country's soil be used to threaten the security of others - in other words, no safe haven for terrorists.
The group also said it would protect the human rights of minorities, but according to its interpretation of Islam, and there was no mention of women. It claimed the government had “no problem” with any Afghans and urged people not to leave the country, making a direct appeal to professional and educated classes whose talents were “desperately” needed.
Almost certainly the US will be in no rush to recognise this interim government. Rather, it will monitor the cabinet’s actions while continuing to co-ordinate with the Taliban on practical matters, in particular securing safe passage for American citizens and Afghan allies who want to leave the country.

Taliban set to recreate Ministry of Vice and Virtue

Women argue with a Taliban fighter during women's rights protest in Kabul on Tuesday.

The Taliban's new caretaker government in Afghanistan has been told by the group's spiritual leader, Mullah Akhundzada, to strictly uphold Sharia law.
The BBC's Lyse Doucet in Kabul reports that the group intend to recreate the Ministry of Vice and Virtue, which deployed religious police to walk the streets scrutinising people's behaviour during the group's last spell in power.
The department ruthlessly enforced restrictions on women and men through public beatings and imprisonment.
Women were beaten for infractions such as showing their wrists, hands, or ankles, wearing make-up and leaving home unaccompanied by a close male relative. Men also received beatings for trimming their beards.
In 2006, then-President Hamid Karzai was widely criticised after he gave in to pressure from conservatives and briefly considered proposals to reestablish the department in some form.

Deaths at protest in city of Herat

Medical workers in the western Afghan city of Herat say three people were shot dead and seven others were injured when the Taliban opened fire at a protest demanding the protection of women's rights earlier on Tuesday.
A doctor from Herat Provincial Hospital told the BBC that one of the dead was a "10 or 11-year-old boy".
Earlier the Taliban broke up a demonstration in Kabul - involving hundreds of people - by firing into the air.
The protests are believed to be the biggest show of defiance since the Taliban took power, though many demonstrators avoided criticising the Taliban directly and aimed their anger at Pakistan, which they accuse of supporting the Islamist group.
Video footage from Kabul shows people running to safety, while heavy gunfire can be heard in the background.

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The Taliban on Tuesday fired shots into the air to disperse crowds who had gathered for an anti-Pakistan rally in Kabul. Afghans rallied outside the Pakistani embassy, holding banners and chanting against what they said was meddling by Islamabad. #Afghanistan #Taliban #AntiPakProtests

Czech PM: No place in Europe for Afghan refugees

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis has said “there really is no place” for Afghan refugees in Europe, and the EU should instead help them to stay in their homeland.
Mr Babis was speaking after a meeting with his Austrian and Slovak counterparts, in which they discussed the prospect of a rise in refugees from Afghanistan following the Taliban takeover.
All three leaders said they agreed the EU must avoid at all costs a repeated of the migration crisis of 2015, which saw millions of migrants trying to make the journey from Africa and the Middle East.
Mr Babis said there was the option to repeat the 2016 deal with Turkey, who agreed to host many of the arrivals in return for financial and other incentives, “but I don’t think that’s a good alternative”.
"A better alternative is a solution making the people stay in Afghanistan," he was quoted by the AFP news agency as saying.
Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said his country would provide 18m euros ($21.3m) to help Afghans seeking refuge in countries neighbouring Afghanistan.
"We need to seek a solution in the region and not spark another exodus to Europe," he added.

US Senator slams Taliban government as 'line-up of thugs and butchers'

US Senator Lindsey Graham has described the new Taliban government of Afghanistan as a "lineup of thugs and butchers".
Graham, who is one of the most senior Republicans in the Senate, said that the new regime confirmed "how ill-advised the Biden Administration decision to withdraw from Afghanistan was" and pledged to prevent any attempt by the Biden administration to recognise the new government.
"I will oppose any and all efforts by the Biden Administration to legitimise the Afghan Taliban as the government of Afghanistan", he said. "They are a terrorist organisation."
"Any country who provides them legitimacy is setting in motion a reign of terror for the people of Afghanistan and the spread of the terror threat throughout the world."
Yesterday Mr Graham told the BBC that he believed that the US "will be going back into Afghanistan".

Thanks for joining us

Thanks for tuning in to our live page on the current situation in Afghanistan.
We’re now pausing our coverage.
Before we go, here’s what’s happened today:

• The Taliban have announced a new interim government for Afghanistan and declared it an “Islamic emirate”
  
• Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund has been named acting prime minister
  
• Sarajuddin Haqqani is the new acting interior minister, and is a US "most wanted terrorist"
  
• Supreme commander of the militant group, Hibatullah Akhundzada, urged the government to uphold Sharia law
  
• Medical workers in the city of Herat say people have been shot dead during a protest against the Taliban. It isn't clear who shot them, but the Taliban also broke up a protest in Kabul by firing into the air earlier on Tuesday
  
• It comes just over three weeks after the Taliban seized power from the government democratically elected by Afghans
  
• The UN has said basic services are unravelling in the country, and food and aid supplies are in peril
  
• The US has already announced that it does not intend to recognise the Taliban’s rule