Taliban appoint members as 44 governors, police chiefs
The Taliban appointed 44 of its members to key roles including provincial governors and police chiefs on Sunday, a key step in shoring up its governance as the country grapples with growing security and economic problems.
It is first large-scale round of appointments announced since the cabinet was formed in September.
The Taliban released the list of its members' new roles, including Qari Baryal to serve as governor of Kabul and Wali Jan Hamza as the city's police chief.
The previous commander in charge of Kabul's security, Mawlawi Hamdullah Mukhlis, was killed this month in an attack on Afghanistan's largest military hospital in downtown Kabul.
The Taliban took over the country on August 15 but have faced an uphill battle in their promise to restore order and security after decades of war. Islamic State have carried out a spate of attacks around the country, while the economy has been plunged into crisis.
There have been international calls for the group to negotiate with other political players to form an inclusive government including minorities and women, although substantive progress on that has so far not materialised.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations children's agency kicked off a polio vaccination campaign in Afghanistan yesterday, the first nationwide campaign to fight the disease in three years.
Naikwali Shah Momim, the National Emergency Operations Coordinator for the polio programme at Afghanistan's health ministry, told Reuters the campaign had started in various parts of the country yesterday, but added there were several hurdles around a shortage of trained staff.
The campaign, which is aimed at reaching over 3 million children, had received Taliban backing, which would allow teams to reach children in previously inaccessible parts of the country, the WHO said.
"The urgency with which the Taliban leadership wants the polio campaign to proceed demonstrates a joint commitment to maintain the health system and restart essential immunizations to avert further outbreaks of preventable diseases," said Ahmed Al Mandhari, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, in a statement.
However, Momim said that more training was needed for teams in remote areas, so the programme would initially start in places such as Kabul.
Afghanistan and neighbouring Pakistan are the last countries in the world with endemic polio, an incurable and highly infectious disease transmitted through sewage that can cause crippling paralysis in young children.
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