Following the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021, the movement claimed it would take on a more moderate and inclusive approach in their ruling of the country. However, on September 7, 2021, the Taliban announced the official appointments within their caretaker government that closely resembled the cabinet of their first regime of the 1990s. The government is exclusively male, with many positions filled with veterans from their hardline movement in the early nineties. Additionally, many appointees held similar, if not the exact same, roles during the Taliban’s first reign.
Of the 34 major appointments, 20 officials are subject to sanctions by the United Nations Security Council for the role they had in perpetuating violence against millions of Afghans and western forces over the past three decades.
