President Ashraf Ghani on Tuesday evening officially introduced Assadullah Khalid as acting minister of defense and Amrullah Saleh as acting minister of interior affairs.
“Mr. Saleh and Mr. Khalid are among the young and talented cadres of this system. They have strong sense of patriotism and high moral. Despite their political differences, they have been cooperating with us. They have separate points of leadership, but have clear ideas. Their intelligence expertise in the view of current sensitive situation of the country is a national need. Therefore it was decided to seek their military experience in the reform process in the ministries of interior and defense,” Ghani said.
At the event, President Ghani said that the Taliban, by not accepting the responsibility for the attack that happened on Monday cannot escape from the crime they have committed.
Amrullah Saleh, the nominee and acting minister of the interior , who was introduced on Tuesday by Dr Hamadullah Moheb, the national security adviser, to the officials and staffs of the ministry, said: “I have come to the ministry with two traits, a sincere servant for the people and a ruthless minister against criminals and terrorist “.
Mr Saleh, expressing his gratitude to the leadership of the National Unity Government, said that the Ministry of Interior is a public-relations institution with the government and will try to change the narrative of the people’s disappointment towards the police and, instead, replace it with hope and trust.
The goals Mr. Saleh referred to was the creation of more coordination and unification of police, building trust, giving a sense of ownership for the police, institutionalizing respect for people with disabilities and paying tribute to the martyrs of the police.
On the work legacy of outgoing minister of interior Wais Ahmad Barmak and outgoing minister of defense Tariq Shah Bahrami, Ghani said: “Thanks for you leadership and service”.
“You have proved your services and leadership to the Afghan people. We appreciate your services. Change and reposting in governance is an important principle,” he said.
Amrullah Saleh and Assadullah Khalid have previously served as head of the National Directorate of Security under former President Hamid Karzai’s government.
