TALIBAN FOUNDER MULLAH OMAR’S SON MAKES FIRST PUBLIC APPEARANCE

Wed 27 October 2021:

Mohammad Yaqoob, the acting defense minister in Afghanistan’s interim Taliban administration, in his first public appearance on Wednesday called on the private sector to contribute toward strengthening the health sector in the war-ravaged country.

Yaqoob is the son of Mullah Omar, the late founder of the Taliban movement who rarely appeared in public.

The televised event saw Mohammad Yaqoob, Afghanistan’s new defence minister, appealing to local businessmen to invest in hospitals and clinics, signalling the Taliban are emerging from the shadows.

As supreme leader of the movement during their first reign of power, Yaqoob’s father Mullah Omar rarely appeared in public, and photos of him were banned.

“God willing, in a year or two, there would be no need for the Afghans to travel abroad for treatment,” he said, addressing a gathering at the state-owned Sardar Daud Khan Public Hospital in Kabul, the country’s premier health facility for military and civilians.

The Taliban returned to power in August after a 20-year war, and have formed an interim government headed by Hassan Akhund.

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