Meet Mullah Abdul Qayyum Zakir, Taliban's Defence Minister who was a prisoner at Guantanamo Bay for 6 years

The Taliban has appointed Mullah Abdul Qayyum Zakir as the country’s ‘Defence Minister’. Qayyum Zakir is an ex-prisoner of Guantanamo Bay, United States’ most secure jail for high-profile criminals.

The news that Taliban has named Mullah Abdul Qayyum Zakir as Afghanistan’s interim Defence Minister was reported by Al Jazeera which quoted an insider source.

A veteran commander among the ranks, Qayyum Zakir was a close aide of Mullah Mohammad Omar, the founder of Taliban. Zakir was detained by the US forces during Taliban’s upheaval in 2001.

Kept in the high-security Guantanamo Bay prison till 2007, Qayyum Zakir was then handed over to the Afghanistan Government.

Guantanamo Bay lies on the coast of Cuba and houses one of the world’s most secure detention camps, inside United States’ overseas naval facility. It was established in the wake of the 9/11 attacks by then president George Bush to aid the US in its ‘war on terror.’

While the outfit has not yet announced a formal government for its regime in Afghanistan, Taliban is said to have given key portfolio to some veteran figures in its ranks. Another latest appointment has been Aji Mohammad Idris, who is the ‘acting head’ for Da Afghanistan Bank (DAB), the country’s central bank.

The news of Idris’ appointment was confirmed by Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid.

The Taliban has been persuading senior government officials hiding or in exile to return to work and get the country back in operation.