How was the first week of the Taliban in Afghanistan

The Taliban have not figured out how to govern Afghanistan in a week. This will be decided in the coming weeks, representatives of the movement say. Resistance began in the country, and Western countries froze aid

TORREJON DE ARDOZ, MADRID, SPAIN – AUGUST 19: Passengers of the A400M plane disembark after evacuating from Kabul on August 19, 2021 in Torrejon de Ardoz, Madrid, Spain. The plane, sent by the Government of Spain, has repatriated a first group of 55 Spaniards and Afghan collaborators. The repatriation takes place due to the tense situation in Afghanistan where the Taliban took control last Sunday. (Photo by Alejandro Martinez Velez/Europa Press via Getty Images)

Militants of the Taliban (a terrorist organization banned in Russia) entered Kabul on August 15 and, occupying the presidential palace, declared full control over Afghanistan. At the same time, the movement has not yet named the name of the country’s new leader. One of the group’s founders, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, who heads the Taliban’s political office in Doha and has negotiated with the United States, arrived in Kabul on Saturday. He intends to discuss the situation, meet with other leaders of the movement and representatives of the former government. However, the Taliban do not intend to rush to form the government. The new system of government for the country will be unveiled in the coming weeks, Reuters reported on August 21, citing an Islamist spokesman.

On August 18, another Taliban spokesman, Wahidullah Hashimi, named by Reuters as a high-ranking member of the group, said that the country’s main governing body could be a council headed by the current head of the movement, Haybatullah Akhundzad. A similar system existed during the Taliban leadership in 1996-2001. Hashimi suggested that Akhundzada would be a kind of supreme leader, and one of his deputies would play the role of the so-called president. Substitutes are Muhammad Yakub and Sirajuddin Haqqani. Another contender for power is Baradar, sources reported to The Washington Post. The American Council on Foreign Affairs also names him as deputy head. Hashimi added that the new regime in Afghanistan will not be democratic, and the issue of women’s rights will be examined by a council of theologians. This council will, inter alia, decide what clothes women will be able to wear and whether they will have access to education. Earlier, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid reported that the movement guarantees women the observance of their rights under Sharia law.

The reason why, even a week after the capture of Kabul, the Taliban did not name the leaders is because of the structure of the organization itself. “This is a structure that was sharpened for a 20-year war, and the previous leadership was killed. Therefore, as a matter of fact, they themselves have not yet decided exactly which of them should be responsible for leading the country, ”Andrey Kazantsev, professor at the Higher School of Economics and chief researcher at MGIMO, told RBC.