The Taliban leader has ordered Afghan officials to fire relatives they have employed in government positions. Hibatullah Akhundzada's decree says officials should replace appointed sons or other family members – and refrain from hiring relatives in the future, it says “BBC".

The Taliban fired some senior staff when they took power in 2021, while others fled. There are claims that inexperienced staff were hired based on their personal connections.

The Afghan Islamic Press, based in Peshawar, Pakistan, reported that the decree followed allegations that several senior Taliban officials had appointed their sons to government roles.

Afghanistan has faced a deepening economic and humanitarian crisis since the Taliban swept into Kabul and regained control of the country. Foreign military forces have been in the country for two decades, waging a war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions.

Since then, sanctions have been imposed on members of the Taliban government, central bank assets abroad have been frozen, and most foreign funding has been suspended.

Afghanistan is estimated to have natural resources – including natural gas, copper and rare earths – worth more than $1 trillion (£831,5 billion), but those reserves remain untapped due to decades of turmoil in the country.

The Taliban government's treatment of women has angered the international community and increased its isolation as its economy collapses.