Head of new Afghan government calls on ex-officials to return

Speaking to Al Jazeera, acting PM Akhund says Taliban leaders face ‘great responsibility and test’.

Afghanistan’s new acting prime minister, in an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera, has called on former officials who fled when the Taliban seized power last month to return to the country, saying the group “will guarantee their security and safety”. Mullah Mohammad Hasan Akhund also said on Wednesday 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. Akhund, a close associate and political adviser to the late Mullah Omar, the founder of the Taliban and its first supreme leader, said the movement’s leaders faced “a great responsibility and test” towards the Afghan people.