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Head of Taliban orders Afghan officials to remove relatives from government positions

Hibatullah Akhundzada, the head of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, issued a decree that calls for Afghan officials to remove relatives they have hired to government positions. File photo by Samiullah Popal/EPA-EFE
Hibatullah Akhundzada, the head of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, issued a decree that calls for Afghan officials to remove relatives they have hired to government positions. File photo by Samiullah Popal/EPA-EFE

March 19 (UPI) -- The head of the Taliban issued a decree that calls for Afghan officials to remove relatives they have hired to government positions.

Hibatullah Akhundzada, the head of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, announced the decision on Saturday, taking aim at nepotism in the government.

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"The leadership of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan ... give a verbal directive to the officials of the Emirate institutions to dismiss their children from work," the statement tweeted by the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan reads.

The Taliban Office of Administrative Affairs said that "the officials of departments and various emirate agencies" have been directed to give notice to anyone who is related to them.

The Afghan Islamic Press reported that the decree by Akhundzada comes on the heels of allegations that some Taliban officials hired their sons, who were unqualified, to prominent positions in the government.

While the latest decision by the Taliban appears to lack controversy, the current regime has made several more contentious moves since gaining control of Afghanistan in 2021.

Following the government takeover in August 2021, Taliban forces reportedly executed more than 100 members of the Afghan National Security Forces.

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In December, the Taliban took monumental swipes at already limited women's rights, first by barring women from attending most universities. Then, days later, it banned non-government organizations from allowing women to work in Afghanistan.

A U.S. State Department report on Afghanistan in 2021, found that the Taliban had committed religiously- and politically-motivated killings and severe human rights violations since taking control of the government.

That report also acknowledged human rights issues that occurred before the takeover.

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