Taliban might have cancelled 9/11 oath ceremony to save money: Reports

The Taliban have cancelled the oath-taking ceremony of their interim cabinet, which was scheduled to take place on September 11, on the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attack, reports said. The decision might have been taken to save money at a time the country is reeling under cash shortage. Some reports have however said that the Taliban were pressurised by its allies against organising an oath-taking ceremony.

That the Taliban were planning to hold it on September 11 was never confirmed by the Taliban leadership though reports have claimed that invitations were rolled out to China, Turkey, Pakistan, Iran, Qatar, Russia, India and the US. The Kremlin on Friday confirmed that Russia would not take part in any way in the Taliban government's inauguration ceremony in Afghanistan. The speaker of Russia's upper house of parliament said earlier this week that Russia would be represented at the inauguration by ambassador-level officials, the RIA news agency reported.

"The inauguration ceremony of the new Afghan government was cancelled a few days ago. In order not to confuse people further, the leadership of the Islamic Emirate announced the part of the Cabinet, and it has already started to work," Inamullah Samangani, a member of the Taliban government's cultural commission tweeted.

After delaying the announcement over a reported disagreement between the Taliban and the Haqqani network, an interim Cabinet was announced on Tuesday under the leadership of Taliban supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada.