Afghanistan's new PM calls on ex-officials to return

KABUL: Afghanistan’s new acting Prime Minister (PM), Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund has called on former officials who fled when the Taliban seized power last month to return to the country, saying “he guarantees their security and safety”.

In an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera, Mullah Mohammad Hasan Akhund said that the caretaker government would guarantee the security of diplomats, embassies and humanitarian relief institutions, stressing that the group wanted to establish positive and strong relations with countries in the region and beyond.

“We have suffered huge losses in money and lives for this historical moment in the history of Afghanistan,” Akhund said and hoped to have stronger ties with the neighbouring countries and the world.

Akhund also reiterated the Taliban’s promise of amnesty for anyone who has worked alongside the United States and the administration it backed following its 2001 invasion.

“Therefore, I assure the Islamic nation, especially the Afghan people, that we want all the good, the causes for success and welfare, and we seek to establish an Islamic system,” he added, asking “everyone to participate with us in this blessed project”.

His comments came a day after the Taliban announced its interim government, which is formed exclusively of its own members and close associates.

The Taliban took over the capital, Kabul, on August 15 after a lightning-fast offensive that saw its fighters seize a host of other cities, meeting little or no resistance as the US and NATO withdrew their troops.