IEA government renames Afghan army corps

In a major overhaul on Sunday, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) renamed all eight military corps.

According to a decree by acting defense minister Yaqoob Mujahid, the Special Operations Corps in Kabul has been renamed the Central Corps, and 209th Shaheen Corps will now be called Al-Fatah.

The 217th Pamir Corps in Kunduz has been renamed as Omari Corps, the 205th Atal Corps in Kandahar as Al-Badr and 215th Maiwand in Helmand as Azm.

Yaqoob, who is the son of Mullah Omar, the late founding leader of the IEA, also changed the name of 201st Sailab Corps to Khalid Ibn Waleed, the 203rd Thunder Corps in Paktia to Mansouri and the 207th Zafar Corps in Herat to Al-Farooq.

Also on Sunday, the IEA appointed 43 of its members to key roles including provincial governors and police chiefs.

The IEA released the list of its members’ new roles, including Qari Baryal to serve as governor of Kabul and Wali Jan Hamza as the city’s police chief.

The previous commander in charge of Kabul’s security, Mawlawi Hamdullah Mukhlis, was killed this month in an attack on Afghanistan’s largest military hospital in the city center.