Sept 3, 2021: At least three sources in the group said Friday that Mullah Baradar, head of the Taliban’s political office, would lead the new government in Afghanistan.

Sources said that Mullah Mohammad Yaqub, son of late Taliban founder Mullah Omar and Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, would hold senior positions in the government.

A day earlier, Taliban official Ahmadullah Muttaqi said on social media that a ceremony was being held at the presidential palace in Kabul, while private broadcaster Tolo said the announcement of a new government was imminent.

In the eyes of international donors and investors, the new government’s legitimacy will be important to the economy as the country fights the ravages of drought and a conflict that has killed an estimated 240,000 Afghans.

A senior Taliban official told Reuters last month that Taliban supreme leader Hebatullah Akhundzada was expected to have final say on the new governing council.

The supreme Taliban leader has three deputies: Mawlavi Yaqoob, son of the movement’s late founder Mullah Omar; Sirajuddin Haqqani, leader of the powerful Haqqani network; and Abdul Ghani Baradar, one of the founding members of the group.

Humanitarian organizations have warned that severe drought and war have forced thousands of families to flee their homes.

Afghanistan is in dire need of money, and the Taliban are unlikely to gain rapid access to about $10 billion in assets, most of which are abroad at the Afghan central bank.

The head of the Taliban-appointed central bank has tried to reassure banks that the group wants a fully functioning financial system, but has given little detail on how to provide the necessary liquidity.

In a report by Fitch Group’s research arm Fitch Solutions, analysts say that Afghanistan’s current gross domestic product is expected to decline by 9.7 percent this fiscal year, with a further decline of 5.2 percent next year.

Fitch said foreign investment would be needed to support a more optimistic view, a scenario that “allows some major economies, namely China and possibly Russia, to accept the Taliban as a legitimate government.”

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