January 1, Defense secretary: the world was ‘hopeful’ the Taliban would be ‘inclusive’

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said that the world was optimistic that the Taliban would form an “inclusive” government, but there isn’t any indication they’re going to follow through.

The Taliban previously claimed that they would aim to have an “open, inclusive Islamic government.”

“You know, I think the whole international community was hopeful that they would be inclusive as they kind of said they would be weeks and months ago, but we’ve not seen evidence of that early on,” Austin said.

The Taliban recently announced its new government members, which consist entirely of men. Sirajuddin Haqqani, the new acting interior minister, carries a $10 million bounty from the FBI. The Associated Press reported the belief is that Haqqani is holding at least one American hostage.

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Austin: No evidence Taliban being ‘inclusive,’ says ‘I don’t look favorably’ on wanted terrorist in government