Afghanistan says Taliban intends to move capital from Kabul to Kandahar

31 May 2022


The radical Taliban movement (banned in the Russian Federation) that came to power in Afghanistan  intends to move the capital from Kabul to Kandahar city in the south of the country, Former Vice President of Afghanistan Amrullah Saleh said on Tuesday.


"The Taliban wants to move the capital of Afghanistan to Kandahar without any prior notice," said Saleh, who was quoted by the Aamaj News local news agency. According to the former vice president, with this decision, "Kabul should be turned into an administrative capital and isolated from political tensions and anti-government protests."


According to Saleh, the parliamentary elections will be overseen by a special committee headed by Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada. Parliament itself will only hear the prime minister's program, but will not have the right to approve or reject it.


The former Afghan vice president also reported on the Taliban's decision to create a Supreme Ulema Council with its headquarters in Kandahar. It is this body, according to Saleh, that will have the power to appoint the new leader of the movement after Akhundzada's death. The Supreme Council of Ulema will also send its proxies to the Afghan provinces as representatives of the highest political and religious authorities in the country.


After Washington announced in the spring of 2021 the decision to withdraw troops from Afghanistan, the Taliban launched a major operation to take control of the country. On August 15 of the same year the Taliban fighters entered Kabul without a fight and president Ashraf Ghani left the republic. On September 6 last year, the radicals declared control over the entire Afghan territory, and the next day announced the composition of the provisional government, the legitimacy of which has not yet been recognized by any country.

 

 

GSV "Russia - Islamic world"

Photo: Creative Commons

Based on materials from TASS