Afghan president replaces security

ministers amid Taliban advance

President Ashraf Ghani announced new defence and interior ministers as violence
surges with the Taliban claiming more territory.

The latest cabinet changes, which have to be approved by parliament, come with violence
increasing since early May after the US military began the formal withdrawal of its last
remaining troops [File: Wakil Kohsar/AFP]
19 Jun 2021

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has replaced two top ministers charged with managing the
country’s faltering security, as the Taliban presses on with their campaign to capture new
territory in fierce battles with government forces.

The shake-up of the defence and interior ministry portfolios comes as violence surges and
peace talks remain deadlocked, with the Taliban claiming to have seized more than 40
districts in recent weeks across the rugged countryside.
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The presidency announced in a statement on Saturday that General Bismillah Khan

Mohammadi, who fought under the late anti-Taliban commander Ahmad Shah Massoud
during a 1990s civil war, has been appointed new defence minister.

He has replaced Asadullah Khalid who has held the job since 2018 and has repeatedly
flown out of the country for treatment to wounds suffered after a suicide bomber attacked
him in 2012.

Mohammadi has previously held the defence and interior ministry portfolios and also
served as the chief of army staff after the fall of the Taliban regime following a US-led
invasion in 2001.

Ghani also appointed General Abdul Sattar Mirzakwal as interior minister, the presidency
said. Mirzakwal has previously held several regional posts.

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‘Robust and effective plan’

The latest cabinet changes, which have to be approved by parliament, come as violence has
increased since early May after the US military began the formal withdrawal of its last
remaining troops.

US President Joe Biden has set September 11 – the 20th anniversary of the attacks in the
United States that led to the invasion of Afghanistan – as the deadline to withdraw
American soldiers.

Since the Pentagon commenced the final withdrawal on May 1, the Taliban has unleashed a
wave of attacks targeting government forces.

The armed group claim to have seized more than 40 districts since early May, forcing
military leaders to strategically retreat from a number of rural districts.

On Saturday, local officials said that the Taliban captured at least six more districts in the
country since Friday, forcing pro-government forces to either surrender or evacuate the
districts and flee.

The newly fallen districts are located in Takhar, Faryab, Jawzjan, Samangan, Farah and
Paktia provinces, according to the officials.
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In one attack, at least 20 members of an elite commando unit were shot dead by the Taliban
in an ambush in the northern province of Faryab on Wednesday, several officials told AFP
news agency.

Afghanistan has 34 provinces and about 400 districts. Districts serve as secondary-level
administrative units, one level below the provinces.

The Taliban are now present in almost every province and are encircling several major
cities – a strategy the armed group employed in the mid-1990s when they overran most of
Afghanistan until they were deposed by invading US-led forces.

On Saturday, the defence ministry confirmed that government troops had retreated from
several districts but said they aimed to take them back.

“There is a new, robust and effective plan to retake areas from which we have pulled back
our forces,” ministry spokesman Rohullah Ahmadzai said, dismissing claims that hundreds
of soldiers had surrendered to the Taliban.

SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES