Jan 4, 2022: The Taliban’s interim government says the formation of a new Afghan regular army of about 100,000 troops is nearing completion.

Inayatullah Khawarizmi, a spokesman for the country’s defense ministry, said the ranks of the new Afghan army had increased by 80%, according to Sputnik News. He added that a 20-member committee was investigating. The group plans to recruit 150,000 fighters to join its ranks, Qari Fasihuddin, chief of staff of the Taliban’s armed forces, told Al Jazeera News in November.

The Afghan military and Western-backed government led by Ashraf Ghani fell on August 15 as foreign forces withdrew after a 20-year presence. In September, the Taliban appointed an interim government. Last month, the Taliban’s supreme leader ordered militants not to punish members of the former Afghan government for past “crimes”, just days after a video of an army commander being beaten went viral on social media.

The order, tweeted by the group’s spokesman Muhammad Naeem on Thursday, urged Taliban officials to discourage Afghans from leaving the country as they would not be respected abroad.