Over 10 days after the Taliban captured Kabul following the collapse of the US-backed government, they are now switching focus to how to run a country in crisis.
Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the co-founder and deputy leader of the Taliban, is likely to be the next president of Afghanistan.
Taliban have appointed loyal, senior veterans to the posts of Finance Minister and Defence minister, two members of the group said, as it switches focus from its military conquest of the land-locked nation. The ministerial choices have not yet been made official, a Taliban leader said.
The new Defence Minister is Mullah Abdul Qayyum Zakir, a former detainee at the US prison in Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, Al Jazeera news channel reported citing a Taliban source.
The new Finance Minister is Gul Agha, who is on international sanctions lists for acting as the Taliban's financial chief, Afghanistan's Pajhwok news agency reported.
Sadr Ibrahim has been named as acting Interior Minister.
The key appointments come less than a fortnight after the terror group wrested control of all government offices, the presidential palace and parliament.
Another key face of the Taliban is Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesperson of the terror group, covering its vast information wing. He has replaced the fallen Ashraf Ghani government's spokesperson who was killed. Mujahid had said that the killing had been orchestrated "in a special attack" carried out by the Taliban.
Last week, the Taliban appointed Haji Mohammad Idris as acting head of the central bank. From the northern province of Jawzjan, Idris had long experience working on financial issues with the previous leader, Mullah Akhtar Mansour, who was killed in a drone strike in 2016.
Governors of provinces will be selected from among some of the most experienced members, the Taliban said.
