Elay Ershad | |
---|---|
Nationality | Afghan |
Alma mater | Kabul University |
Occupation(s) | politician, academic, scholar |
Elay Ershad is an Afghan former politician and former member of Afghan Parliament (Wolesi Jirga). [1] [2] She was a former spokesperson for President Ashraf Ghani and labelled him "gutless" for fleeing after the Fall of Kabul. [3] [4]
Elay obtained her bachelor's degree from Faculty of Law and Political Science in Department of Diplomacy from the Kabul University. She also served as an assistant lecturer at the Faculty of Law and Political Science in Kabul University. [5]
She also held various roles in the Ashraf Ghani's government before the Taliban takeover. She served as the chairperson of Committee on Education, Higher Education, Cultural Affairs, and Religious Affairs. She worked as the general advisor and executive assistant to the minister of the Interior and the minister of education in Afghanistan. She is also a member of Coordinating Committee of Women Parliamentarians of Inter-Parliamentary Union. She represents the Truth and Justice political party in Afghanistan. [5]
Mohammad Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai is an Afghan former politician, academic, and economist who served as the president of Afghanistan from September 2014 until August 2021, when his government was overthrown by the Taliban.
Abdullah Abdullah is an Afghan politician who led the High Council for National Reconciliation (HCNR) from May 2020 until August 2021, when the Afghan government was overthrown by the Taliban. The council had been established to facilitate peace talks between the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the Taliban insurgents. Abdullah served as the Chief Executive of Afghanistan from September 2014 to March 2020, and as Minister of Foreign Affairs from December 2001 to April 2005. Prior to that, he was a senior member of the Northern Alliance, working as an adviser to Ahmad Shah Massoud. He worked as an ophthalmologist and medical doctor in the 1980s.
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On 15 August 2021, Afghanistan's capital city of Kabul was captured by the Taliban after a major insurgent offensive that began in May 2021. It was the final action of the War in Afghanistan, and marked a total victory for the Taliban. This led to the overthrowing of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan under President Ashraf Ghani and the reinstatement of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan under the control of the Taliban.
The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan was a presidential republic in Afghanistan from 2004 to 2021. The state was established to replace the Afghan interim (2001–2002) and transitional (2002–2004) administrations, which were formed after the 2001 United States invasion of Afghanistan that had toppled the partially recognized Taliban-ruled Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. However, on 15 August 2021, the country was recaptured by the Taliban, which marked the end of the 2001–2021 war, the longest war in US history. This led to the overthrow of the Islamic Republic, led by President Ashraf Ghani, and the reinstatement of the Islamic Emirate under the control of the Taliban. While the United Nations still recognizes the Islamic Republic as the legitimate government of Afghanistan, this toppled regime controls no portion of the country today, nor does it operate in exile; it effectively no longer exists. The Islamic Emirate is the de facto ruling government. The US–Taliban deal, signed on 29 February 2020 in Qatar, was one of the critical events that caused the collapse of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF). Following the deal, the US dramatically reduced the number of air attacks and deprived the ANSF of a critical edge in fighting the Taliban insurgency, leading to the Taliban takeover of Kabul.
Rangina Hamidi is an Afghan-American writer, educator, social activist, and politician. She is well known as an advocate for women's rights in Afghanistan and has engaged in various social projects to empower girls and women in Afghanistan. Hamidi has served as an education minister of Afghanistan, until the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan with the fall of Kabul in 2021. She was the first female education minister of Afghanistan. During the Afghanistan being taken over by the Taliban, she vowed to stay in Afghanistan and continue her humanitarian efforts by actively involving in empowerment of Afghan women. However, after several weeks, she fled with her family to Arizona.
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The Taliban has ruled Afghanistan as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan since taking control by force in 2021, overthrowing the internationally recognized Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. The takeover was widely criticized by the international community, and no countries have extended de jure diplomatic recognition to the new regime, despite nominally maintaining relations with Afghanistan. The Taliban has campaigned for international recognition since the takeover. Several countries have vowed never to recognize the Islamic Emirate, and others have said they will do so only if human rights in the country are respected. Some countries have accredited Taliban diplomats at the chargé d'affaires level despite not recognizing the Islamic Emirate. In September 2023, the People's Republic of China became the first country to formally name a new ambassador to the country since the takeover, and in January 2024 recognized the Taliban's envoy to China; however, the PRC still does not formally recognize the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan. The United Arab Emirates also accepted a Taliban appointed diplomat as Afghanistan's new ambassador in August 2024.
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Din Mohammad Jurat, born on January 15, 1963, in Panjshir Province, is a former senior Afghan government official and military general. He held various key security and intelligence positions throughout his career. Jurat was a prominent figure in Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security (NDS) and served as a close aide to high-ranking Afghan politicians, particularly during the pre-Taliban era.