Taliban Minister Says Power Has Not Been Loyal to Afghanistan's Past Rulers

Khalid Hanafi, the Taliban minister of virtue and vice, said in a speech that previous Afghan governments collapsed because they lacked Islamic ideology despite receiving external support.

The audio remarks, broadcast on Afghanistan National Television on 27 Jawza, listed rulers from Nur Muhammad Taraki through Najibullah to Ashraf Ghani as examples of leaders to whom power did not remain loyal.

Hanafi called on scholars, Taliban members, professors, teachers and citizens to maintain unity in order to establish an Islamic system and avoid discord.

The minister did not refer to the collapse of the first Taliban government.

Separately, senior Taliban figure Abdul Ghani Baradar described the current administration as a unique divine blessing.