Taliban appoint Gul Agha Afghanistan's new finance minister

• Taliban have appointed Gul Agha as finance minister and Sadr Ibrahim as the acting interior minister of the country.
• Najibullah has been appointed as the intelligence chief while Mullah Shirin will be the governor of Kabul.
• Hamdullah Nomani will serve as Kabul mayor.

After regaining control of Kabul over a span of over 20 years, the Taliban have started filling key posts to run the government in war-torn Afghanistan.

The group appointed Gul Agha as finance minister and Sadr Ibrahim as the acting interior minister of the country, according to Afghan media reports.

Reports also suggested that Najibullah has been appointed as the country's intelligence chief while, Mullah Shirin will be Kabul's new governor.

Hamdullah Nomani will serve as Kabul's mayor.

General amnesty for govt officials

Earlier on August 17, the Taliban had announced a "general amnesty" for all government officials Tuesday, two days after the group captured Kabul and completed their hold over the country after a lightening offensive, AFP reported. 

"A general amnesty has been declared for all... so you should start your routine life with full confidence," said a statement from the Taliban.

As per news reports from journalists in Kabul, life is slowly starting to normal in Kabul. Shops have reopened and traffic is slowly starting to return to normal.

Taliban fighters were guarding the US consulate and other embassies in the Afghan capital. Foreign and local journalists in Kabul and other parts of the country are also reporting on the Afghan situation.

Afghan reserves in US won’t be accessible to Taliban: official

A US administration official on August 17 had said that the Taliban will be denied access to any Afghan reserves held in US accounts.

"Any Central Bank assets the Afghan government has in the United States will not be made available to the Taliban,” the US official had told AFP, adding that the US forces were evacuating Afghanistan’s capital after the Taliban’s swift takeover.

According to the IMF, the central bank’s gross reserves totaled $9.4 billion at the end of April. But most of those funds are held outside of Afghanistan, according to a person familiar with the matter. It was not immediately clear what share of the assets are held in the United States.