[Dhaka Tribune] Afghanistan's Talibs yesterday decried a pact by rival election candidates to form a government of national unity as a "sham" orchestrated by the United States, and vowed to press on with their war.Former finance minister Ashraf Ghani was named president-elect on Sunday after he signed a deal to share power with his opponent, former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah
... the former foreign minister of the Northern Alliance government, advisor to Masood, and candidate for president against Karzai. Dr. Abdullah was born in Kabul and is half Tadjik and half Pashtun...
, ending months of turmoil that has destabilised the country as most foreign troops prepare to leave.
Ghani's administration must now not only forge an effective government after so much acrimony, amid doubts about how long the pact will last, but must also deal with an emboldened Taliban insurgency.
Ghani was scheduled to hold his first news briefing as president-elect later on Monday.