Taliban appoints obscure figures in intelligence, security positions, says report

A week after the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan, a number of obscure figures have been appointed to senior security and intelligence positions by the terrorist group.

According to IntelNews, some of the names of senior officials have been made public by news agencies in the Middle East while others were publicized by local media on Tuesday. Abdul Qayyum, known as "Zakir", is arguably the most notable of those appointed to senior positions by the Taliban.

Zakir is a former senior commander of the Taliban, who has been appointed Afghanistan's Acting Defense Minister. He was a former Guantanamo detainee and is seen as an ally of the leaders of the Haqqani network, a Taliban sub-set, which has close ties with foreign jihadist outfits.

Zakir is well known to Pakistan's ISI, which is believed to have arranged for his quick release from custody after being arrested in 2010 in Pakistan's Balochistan.

Another unknown appointee is a Taliban commander "Najibullah", head of Afghanistan's intelligence agency. According to InterNews, no other information about him was provided in the statement.

Apart from Zakir and Najibullah, other appointees too are largely unknown figures to Western observers. Meanwhile, the Taliban have said that religious scholars will lead the upcoming government in Afghanistan.

At a gathering in Kabul earlier this week, the Taliban said that their 20 years of struggle should not go in vain and religious scholars should take the lead and be the core of the upcoming government in Afghanistan.

The terror group had invited tens of religious scholars in a grand gathering to ask their cooperation in forging a sound political system and inviting people to support the future government, Khaama Press reported.

Last week, the terror group entered the presidential palace in Kabul soon after president Ashraf Ghani fled the Afghan capital. The Taliban announced the end of the war and gave general amnesty to everyone. However, Kabul is witnessing heavy chaos as a large number of people are approaching the Hamid Karzai International Airport in a bid to flee the country.

(ANI)

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