Afghanistan Times
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KABUL – In a controversial move, Taliban chief Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada on May 28 dismissed Health Minister Qalandar Ebad, a trained doctor, and replaced him with Noor Jalal, a hard-line cleric and former deputy interior minister. This decision has drawn significant criticism and heightened concerns about the already struggling health sector in Afghanistan, plagued by a lack of funding.
Former Afghan lawmaker Arif Rahmani expressed his disapproval on X (formerly Twitter), calling the move “irrational” and accusing the Taliban leadership of “carelessness and arrogance.” Rahmani emphasized the need for a technocrat to manage the health-care system effectively.
Gholam Dastgir Nazari, a former Health Ministry official, echoed these sentiments, stating that providing health care is impossible without “good professional leadership.”
This appointment is seen as part of a broader effort to purge non-Taliban Afghans, including technocrats and professionals, from the Taliban-led government. The Taliban’s regime is primarily composed of senior Taliban veterans and loyalists, mostly clerics from the Pashtun ethnic group.
Ali Latifi, an Afghan-American journalist based in Kabul, noted that Ebad’s removal is particularly significant because he was viewed as a “capable and effective” administrator. Health-care professionals believed that Ebad was striving to maintain medical services for all Afghans, including women.
Under Akhundzada’s leadership, the Taliban has restricted women’s access to health care and limited their ability to work in the health sector. Akhundzada has previously replaced ministers who challenged his hard-line policies with loyal clerics, including the minister of education.
