Taliban has reassigned 13 of its former officials to new roles across various ministries, provincial governorships, and security positions, with no new faces introduced in these appointments.
The reshuffling underscores a continued pattern of internal reassignments within the Taliban, as all those appointed have held previous roles under Taliban rule.
According to a statement released by the Taliban, the new appointments include three deputy ministers, three governors and four police commanders in key provinces.
Among the notable appointments:
Bakhtawar Rahman Sharafat, formerly the deputy director of the Taliban’s railway authority at the Ministry of Public Works, has been appointed as the Taliban Deputy Minister for Finance and Administration at the Ministry of Public Health.
Mohammad Ishaq Sahebzada, previously the Taliban Deputy Minister for Finance and Administration at the Ministry of Public Health, has been reassigned as the Taliban Deputy Director of the Railway Authority at the Ministry of Public Works.
Nisar Ahmad Nusrat, who previously served as the Taliban governor of Kunduz, has been named Taliba Deputy Minister for Rural Development and Reconstruction at the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development.
In terms of provincial leadership, the Taliban has appointed three new governors:
Mohammad Khan Dawat, previously the Taliban commander of the 205th Al-Badr Corps, has been appointed as the Taliban governor of Kunduz.
Hayatullah Mubarak, former Taliban district governor in Helmand’s Gereshk district, will serve as the Taliban’s new governor of Ghor.
Azizullah Mustafa, who formerly served as the Taliban Director of Education in Nangarhar, has been named Taliban deputy governor of the same province.
Additionally, the Taliban reassigned several police commanders:
Abdul Wali Atqani, former Taliban Director of Human Resources at the Ministry of Agriculture, is now the Taliban Police Commander for Jawzjan.
Abdul Salam Hosseini, previously the Taliban Police Commander in Helmand’s Musa Qala district, will now head the Taliban police forces in Kapisa.
Noor Agha Haidar, who served as Security Manager for the Taliban police command in Badghis, has been reassigned as Taliban police chief in Ghor.
Hafizullah Pahlawan, previously the Taliban police chief in Jawzjan, will now serve as the Taliban police chief for Badghis.
One of the military appointments is Ahmad Shah Deendost, former Taliban governor of Ghor, who has been appointed as Taliban commander of the 205th Al-Badr Corps.
In other key positions:
Mohammad Usman, previously the Taliban police chief in Kapisa, has been named Taliban Director of Human Resources at the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation, and Livestock.
Rahmatul Haq Fazil, who formerly served as the Taliban Deputy Minister for Finance and Administration at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has been appointed to the Central Darul Ifta, the Taliban’s religious advisory body.
A consistent pattern of internal appointments
The latest round of appointments continues the Taliban’s practice of reshuffling key officials without bringing in new figures from outside the group. Since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan nearly three years ago, all major government appointments have been filled by long-serving members of the group, without expanding beyond its ranks.
This reappointment strategy, which has now spanned multiple ministries and security positions, reflects the Taliban’s reliance on its existing cadre of officials, further consolidating control within its inner circle. Critics argue that this approach has limited the inclusion of new perspectives and further entrenched the Taliban’s leadership.
