No Public Protests: Taliban Issues Clear Warning After Anti-Pak Rally

Taliban Government: All the top positions were handed to key leaders from the Taliban movement and the Haqqani network.

The Taliban announced their government on Tuesday, with a UN-blacklisted veteran of the hardline movement in the top role, weeks after they swept to power and toppled the US-backed president. But as the Taliban transitions from terrorist force to governing power of Afghanistan, security officials grappled with a growing number of protests against its rule, with two people shot dead in the western city of Herat. Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund -- a senior minister during the Taliban's brutal and repressive reign in the 1990s -- was appointed acting prime minister, a spokesman said at a press conference in Kabul. The Taliban had promised an inclusive government that would reflect the ethnic makeup of the country, but all the top positions were handed to key leaders from the movement and the Haqqani network -- the most violent branch of the Taliban known for devastating attacks.