Taliban member: Council may rule Afghanistan

Afghanistan may be governed by a ruling council now that the Taliban (banned in Russia) has taken over, while the Islamist militant movement's supreme leader, Haibatullah Akhundzada, would likely remain in overall charge, a senior member of the group told Reuters.

The Taliban would also reach out to former pilots and soldiers from the Afghan armed forces to join its ranks, Waheedullah Hashimi, who has access to the group's decision-making, added in an interview.

Akhundzada would likely play a role above the head of the council, who would be akin to the country's president, Hashimi added.

"Maybe his (Akhundzada's) deputy will play the role of 'president'," Hashimi said, speaking in English.

The Taliban's supreme leader has three deputies: Mawlavi Yaqoob, son of Mullah Omar, Sirajuddin Haqqani, leader of the powerful militant Haqqani network, and Abdul Ghani Baradar, who heads the Taliban's political office in Doha and is one of the founding members of the group.

Many issues regarding how the Taliban would run Afghanistan have yet to be finalised, Hashimi explained, but Afghanistan would not be a democracy.

"There will be no democratic system at all because it does not have any base in our country," he said. "We will not discuss what type of political system should we apply in Afghanistan because it is clear. It is sharia law and that is it."

Hashimi said he would be joining a meeting of the Taliban leadership that would discuss issues of governance later this week.