Afghan President Ashraf Ghani named two former heads of the intelligence services to key security posts in his government on Sunday in a step that could affect both next year’s presidential election and moves toward peace with the Taliban, Trend reported citing Reuters.
Asadullah Khalid, who suffered horrific injuries in a Taliban suicide attack shortly after taking over the National Directorate for Security in 2012, was named as acting defense minister. Amrullah Saleh, who served as NDS chief until 2008, was appointed acting interior minister.
The appointments come at a critical time, with elections due in April and talks between U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and Taliban representatives over a possible peace deal expected to continue in January following three meetings this year.
Ghani is expected to run for a second five-year term, and the future of U.S. involvement in Afghanistan is unclear following Khalilzad’s meetings and last week’s surprise U.S. announcement of plans to withdraw almost half of its forces.