The Afghan Taliban appointed a close associate of Mullah Omar as acting head of the Central Bank of Afghanistan. According to the report, the United Nations has imposed sanctions on Mullah Hidayatullah Badri.
The new appointment in the Central Bank of Afghanistan was announced on Wednesday by Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid on Twitter. He said that Mullah Hidayatullah Badri, the former acting head of the Ministry of Finance, has been appointed as the acting head of Afghanistan Bank.
Afghanistan’s former finance minister oversaw the budget after the Taliban wrested control of the country from a Western-backed administration in 2021.
According to Independent Urdu, Finance Ministry Spokesman Ahmad Wali Haqmal said that Mullah Hidayatullah Badri has already assumed his new post.
Able to manage finances for the Taliban, the new head of the National Bank has previously served as an adviser to wanted terrorist and senior Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, whose death was confirmed in 2013.
Mullah Hidayatullah Badri, also known as Gul Agha, is accused of collecting money for suicide attacks in Kandahar, Afghanistan, and distributing the funds to Taliban fighters and their families.
The United Nations Security Council imposed sanctions on them in July 2010.