Taliban plans to form new ‘inclusive caretaker govt'

According to a report published in Al Jazeera, after the dramatic take over of Afghanistan's leadership from the US, the Taliban are now planning to form an 'all-inclusive caretaker government'. 

The report mentioned that the "caretaker government will include leaders from all ethnicities and tribal backgrounds in the country".

Nearly a dozen names are being considered to be part of the new government. However, the tenure of the caretaker government is unclear at the moment, added the media report citing Taliban sources.

In the country of 40 million, the Pashtuns are the majority ethnic group, making up more than 42 percent of the population. The Pashtuns are not only superior in terms of population, they are also the dominant group, reportedly subjugating the ethnic minority Hazaras. 

The difference is primarily religious – the Pashtuns are Sunnis, while the Hazaras are Shias.

Afghanistan is a country predominantly Sunni Muslim. Persecution of the Hazaras dates back to the 1800s.

Looking back: 

In the 1800s, the Pashtun king Abdur Rahman Khan wanted to conquer 'Hazarat’ – the land of the Hazaras and to do so he declared war on the Hazaras. He projected the ethnic minority race as infidels, which resulted in the community’s demotion at the bottom of the country’s social hierarchy.

The consequence of the Pashtun King’s propaganda has led to the persecution of generations of Hazara people since the 1800s.

In today’s Afghanistan, Pashtuns comprise more than 42 percent of Afghan population, while Hazaras are just 9 percent.

The United Nations claims more than 1000 of the Hazaras have been executed.

Since the 18th century onwards, the Sunni Pashtuns have dominated the Afghan culture, language and politics.

Supreme Leadership Council formed:

The Al Jazeera report has also disclosed that the caretaker government will have an “amir-ul momineen” (commander of the faithful) to lead the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.

They said a supreme leadership council has been convened to decide the form of the future government and nominate ministers, added the report.

The sources have also said that for the primary talks on caretaker government formation, Taliban co-founder Mullah Baradar is currently in Kabul. Meanwhile, Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob, son of Taliban founder Mullah Omar, has travelled from Kandahar to particpate in the talks. 

The United States has been insisting on bringing in some members of the older governments, including former President Hamid Karzai and former Head of Afghanistan’s High Council for National Reconciliation Abdullah Abdullah, revealed the sources. 

Earlier, on Thursday evening, the Hamid Karzai International airport in Kabul was attacked by a series of suicide bomb explosions that left at least 110 dead, including civilians, 28 Taliban members, and 13 US soldiers. 

The IS has already claimed responsibility of the fatal attack, while the Taliban has condemned the attack. 

Plans of a new caretaker government comes during a time when the country is still recovering from Thursday's fatal suicide bomb atttacks.