As we reflect on the 20-year conflict in Afghanistan, our chief international correspondent Lyse Doucet has been looking at who is in the Taliban's new government and what it will mean for the country.

Judge them by their actions, not their words, has become the mantra of a fast-expanding league of Taliban watchers including Afghans, foreign governments, humanitarian chiefs and political pundits the world over.

But Afghans are watching most closely of all. They have to.

On a day when brave protesters with bold banners spilled into the streets of Kabul and other cities - Afghan women leading the charge to demand their rights, their representation, their roles in society - the new Taliban government was unveiled.

Was this more evidence of the media-savvy Taliban? It temporarily knocked news of Taliban firing guns in the air, wielding rifle butts and sticks to disperse protesters, out of the world's headlines.

But it was a modest ceremony on Wednesday, in the mundane setting of a press conference, for such a momentous, much-anticipated message. It electrified social media, and delivered a gut punch to those who had held fast to Taliban promises.

Far from being inclusive, it is exclusively Taliban. The old organigram of the Taliban movement, with its commissions, deputies, and the all-powerful Emir Hibatullah Akhundzada, has been transplanted into a cabinet with the same political architecture of governments everywhere.

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Image source, Reuters

Afghanistan's ambassador to the United Nations - a member of the ousted government - has urged the organisation to enforce sanctions on the Taliban.

Ghulam Isaczai, still the country's representative at the world body, urged nations on Thursday not to recognise the Taliban government and to enforce existing UN sanctions on leaders named in the interim cabinet, including restrictions on their international travel.

Recent street protests were "a strong message to the Taliban that Afghans of all backgrounds and creeds would not accept a totalitarian system imposed on them," he told Thursday's Security Council session on his country.

"I therefore ask you to withhold any recognition of any government in Afghanistan unless it's truly inclusive and formed on the basis of free will of the people," he said.

UN chief António Guterres told Agence France-Presse the international community had to maintain a dialogue with the Taliban.

The Taliban wanted recognition, financial support and sanctions to be abolished.

"That gives a certain leverage to the international community," he said.

The fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban is likely to have "emboldened" so-called lone wolf terrorists in the UK, the director general of MI5 has warned.

Ken McCallum told the BBC that while the terror threat would not change overnight, there could be a "morale boost" for extremists.

"We need to be vigilant for an increase in inspired terrorism," he said.

A total of 31 late-stage attack plots had been foiled in the UK in the past four years, said Mr McCallum.

Read more here.

Our Afghanistan correspondent, Secunder Kermani, has been reflecting on what has changed in the country over the past 20 years.

Women's education and independent media have been the success stories, but all this might change now.

Under Taliban rule, beginning in Kabul in 1996, girls weren't allowed to get an education, and female teachers were ordered to stay at home.

Since taking over Afghanistan for a second time, the Taliban have permitted girls to go to school.

For now, however, only primary school pupils of both genders are attending classes, whilst teachers await the publication of new rules governing secondary schools.

The most recent figures from the World Bank show that about 40% of Afghan girls attend primary school, far more than during the Taliban's previous stint in power but far fewer than in other countries in the region.

It's a similar picture in healthcare, where infant and maternal mortality rates have improved but remain shockingly high.

The Taliban insist women will be allowed to work, but some remain sceptical, especially after Taliban officials recently said most women, other than those working in healthcare or education, should stay at home until security improves.

The same excuse was given throughout the 1990s to completely prevent women working.

The education system has helped mould, however, a generation of young Afghan women and men who are vocal in standing up for their views, including challenging the Taliban.

Read more here.

Image source, Frank Gardner

On Saturday, the world will mark the 20th anniversary of the attacks on the United States on 11 September 2001.

Our correspondents have been analysing how this was to define world events for years to come.

There will be a lot more on BBC platforms over the next two days.

Frank Gardner has been asking what lessons, if any, have been learned from 20 years of fighting terrorism across the world...

A so-called "War on Terror" was declared. It has since led to the invasion of Afghanistan, then Iraq, to the rise of Islamic State and the proliferation of Iranian-backed militias across the Middle East, and the deaths of thousands of servicemen and women and many more civilians.

Terrorism has not been eliminated - every major European country has suffered attacks in recent years - but there have been successes too.

To date, there has never been an attack approaching the scale of 9/11. Al-Qaeda's bases in Afghanistan were destroyed, its leaders hunted down in Pakistan. The self-declared IS caliphate that terrorised much of Syria and Iraq has been dismantled.

Read more on the BBC's Frank Gardner's analysis

Yogita Limaye
Mumbai correspondent, BBC News

Image source, Reuters

Another special flight is scheduled to operate from Kabul to Doha in Qatar on Friday after about 113 people including UK and US citizens flew out of Afghanistan on Thursday.

Qatari officials who have been working with the Taliban to reopen Kabul airport say it is up and running. At the moment, only special chartered flights are being operated.

The Taliban say commercial flights will restart soon, but for that to happen, there will need to be clarity on who will handle the security of the airport. Qatari officials say they’re talking to the Taliban about this.

A batch of relief supplies from Qatar and Pakistan has reached Afghanistan. The UN says there is a pressing need to deliver humanitarian aid across the country. It also says it’s increasingly worried about the harassment and intimidation its local staff are facing.

Afghan journalists are also being attacked. Two reporters from a daily newspaper were severely beaten with electric cables and whips by Taliban fighters. Other journalists have told the BBC they were detained and slapped multiple times, and had their belongings confiscated.

We return to bring you more live coverage of the latest developments in Afghanistan.

The BBC will also be reflecting across its platforms on the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in the US, and how they defined a 20-year conflict that has now ended with the pull-out of foreign forces and the takeover by the Taliban.

Our correspondents will be reporting from New York, Kabul, Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere.

Here's the latest news from Afghanistan:

• Dozens of international passengers - including UK citizens - have flown out of Kabul, the capital, in the first such flight since US forces left the country, headed to the Qatari capital Doha
• A second Qatar Airways charter flight is due on Friday
• Afghan journalists have told the BBC they have been beaten, detained and flogged by the Taliban when attempting to cover protests
• Former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has apologised to the people of Afghanistan after fleeing to take refuge in the United Arab Emirates, saying he left Kabul to avoid "horrific" violence

Thanks for tuning in to our live page on the current situation in Afghanistan.

We’re now pausing our coverage.

Before we go, here’s what’s happened today:

• The Taliban have announced a new interim government for Afghanistan and declared it an “Islamic emirate”
• Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund has been named acting prime minister
• Sarajuddin Haqqani is the new acting interior minister, and is a US "most wanted terrorist"

• Supreme commander of the militant group, Hibatullah Akhundzada, urged the government to uphold Sharia law
• Medical workers in the city of Herat say people have been shot dead during a protest against the Taliban. It isn't clear who shot them, but the Taliban also broke up a protest in Kabul by firing into the air earlier on Tuesday
• It comes just over three weeks after the Taliban seized power from the government democratically elected by Afghans
• The UN has said basic services are unravelling in the country, and food and aid supplies are in peril
• The US has already announced that it does not intend to recognise the Taliban’s rule

The United Nations secretary general says that humanitarian aid can be an "entry point" with the Taliban, as the global body continues its operations in Afghanistan following the US evacuation and the Taliban takeover.

Speaking with the BBC’s Laura Trevelyan in New York, António Guterres called on the Taliban to provide the conditions for the UN to do its work, while acknowledging that the situation is "largely unpredictable".

Image source, Getty Images

US Senator Lindsey Graham has described the new Taliban government of Afghanistan as a "lineup of thugs and butchers".

Graham, who is one of the most senior Republicans in the Senate, said that the new regime confirmed "how ill-advised the Biden Administration decision to withdraw from Afghanistan was" and pledged to prevent any attempt by the Biden administration to recognise the new government.

"I will oppose any and all efforts by the Biden Administration to legitimise the Afghan Taliban as the government of Afghanistan", he said. "They are a terrorist organisation."

"Any country who provides them legitimacy is setting in motion a reign of terror for the people of Afghanistan and the spread of the terror threat throughout the world."

Yesterday Mr Graham told the BBC that he believed that the US "will be going back into Afghanistan".

Image source, Getty Images

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis has said “there really is no place” for Afghan refugees in Europe, and the EU should instead help them to stay in their homeland.

Mr Babis was speaking after a meeting with his Austrian and Slovak counterparts, in which they discussed the prospect of a rise in refugees from Afghanistan following the Taliban takeover.

All three leaders said they agreed the EU must avoid at all costs a repeated of the migration crisis of 2015, which saw millions of migrants trying to make the journey from Africa and the Middle East.

Mr Babis said there was the option to repeat the 2016 deal with Turkey, who agreed to host many of the arrivals in return for financial and other incentives, “but I don’t think that’s a good alternative”.

"A better alternative is a solution making the people stay in Afghanistan," he was quoted by the AFP news agency as saying.

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said his country would provide 18m euros ($21.3m) to help Afghans seeking refuge in countries neighbouring Afghanistan.

"We need to seek a solution in the region and not spark another exodus to Europe," he added.

Medical workers in the western Afghan city of Herat say three people were shot dead and seven others were injured when the Taliban opened fire at a protest demanding the protection of women's rights earlier on Tuesday.

A doctor from Herat Provincial Hospital told the BBC that one of the dead was a "10 or 11-year-old boy".

Earlier the Taliban broke up a demonstration in Kabul - involving hundreds of people - by firing into the air.

The protests are believed to be the biggest show of defiance since the Taliban took power, though many demonstrators avoided criticising the Taliban directly and aimed their anger at Pakistan, which they accuse of supporting the Islamist group.

Video footage from Kabul shows people running to safety, while heavy gunfire can be heard in the background.

Image source, Reuters

The Taliban's new caretaker government in Afghanistan has been told by the group's spiritual leader, Mullah Akhundzada, to strictly uphold Sharia law.

The BBC's Lyse Doucet in Kabul reports that the group intend to recreate the Ministry of Vice and Virtue, which deployed religious police to walk the streets scrutinising people's behaviour during the group's last spell in power.

The department ruthlessly enforced restrictions on women and men through public beatings and imprisonment.

Women were beaten for infractions such as showing their wrists, hands, or ankles, wearing make-up and leaving home unaccompanied by a close male relative. Men also received beatings for trimming their beards.

In 2006, then-President Hamid Karzai was widely criticised after he gave in to pressure from conservatives and briefly considered proposals to reestablish the department in some form.

Barbara Plett Usher
State Department Correspondent, BBC News

The Biden administration has yet to comment on the Taliban’s new caretaker cabinet. But in earlier remarks the Secretary of State Antony Blinken had set two standards by which to judge it.

The first was that it include non-Talibs who represented different communities and interests. The second is what sort of policies it pursued.

On the first, then, the Taliban have disappointed. The group largely drew from its own ranks for cabinet positions, and included no minorities or women. On the second benchmark, which Mr Blinken said was more important, the Taliban went some way to meet international demands. In a policy statement they promised that they would not let the country's soil be used to threaten the security of others - in other words, no safe haven for terrorists.

The group also said it would protect the human rights of minorities, but according to its interpretation of Islam, and there was no mention of women. It claimed the government had “no problem” with any Afghans and urged people not to leave the country, making a direct appeal to professional and educated classes whose talents were “desperately” needed.

Almost certainly the US will be in no rush to recognise this interim government. Rather, it will monitor the cabinet’s actions while continuing to co-ordinate with the Taliban on practical matters, in particular securing safe passage for American citizens and Afghan allies who want to leave the country.

Image source, Reuters

Responding to the announcement of the new interim government, a UN spokesperson has told journalists that only a "negotiated and inclusive settlement will bring sustainable peace to Afghanistan".

The agency said earlier on Tuesday that basic services were unravelling in the country, and food and aid supplies are in peril.

Western nations have said they are prepared to send humanitarian aid, but that more extensive economic engagement will depend on the Taliban's actions.

Image source, EPA

With their new government in place, the next challenge for the Taliban's leadership will be gaining international recognition of their regime.

Governments around the world have spent several weeks grappling with the thorny question of how they will engage with the new leadership and whether to recognise them as a legitimate government.

The US has already announced that it does not intend to recognise the Taliban's rule, with White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki telling reporters on Tuesday that there would be no "rush to recognition" from the Biden administration.

Last week the UK's Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said that while he intends to engage with the Taliban on some issues, the UK will not "recognise the Taliban as a government".

The Kremlin has taken a more cautious line. A spokesperson said Russia has not yet made any decisions on the recognition of the Taliban government and that it will "very carefully" monitor the situation in Afghanistan.

China has said that it seeks “friendly and co-operative” relations – although it, too, has yet to formally recognise the new regime.

And while Pakistan hasn't recognised the new government either, the head of its intelligence service, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), visited Kabul over the weekend and senior government officials have called for international engagement with the Taliban's regime.

During their last period in power, the Taliban's government was recognised by just three countries, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Image source, FBI

Sarajuddin Haqqani, the new acting interior minister of the Taliban government in Afghanistan, is a US "most wanted terrorist".

Haqqani is head of the militant group known as the Haqqani network, who are affiliated with the Taliban and have been behind some of the deadliest attacks in the country's long war.

The US State Department is currently offering a reward of $5 million (£3.6 million) for information leading directly to the arrest of Haqqani.

After the death of his father, Jalaluddin Haqqani, he became the new leader of the network, which is currently one of the region's most powerful and feared militant groups. Some say it is even more influential than the Islamic State group in Afghanistan.

The group, designated by the US as a terrorist organisation, oversees the Taliban's financial and military assets along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

Haqqani is believed to be around 45 years old.

In an opinion piece in the New York Times, external last year before the signing of the Doha agreement, Haqqani wrote: "For more than four decades, precious Afghan lives have been lost every day. Everyone has lost somebody they loved. Everyone is tired of war. I am convinced that the killing and the maiming must stop."

Here's a graphic showing who does what in the Taliban's new interim government.

Image source, Reuters

A statement has been issued in the name of the Taliban’s Supreme Commander Hibatullah Akhundzada - the first since the militant group took control of Afghanistan – telling the new government it must uphold Sharia law.

Akhundzada, who has headed the Taliban since 2016, is notoriously secretive and has still not been seen in public since Afghanistan fell to the group.

He is believed to be in his 60s and has lived most of his life in Afghanistan.

Although he participated in the Islamist resistance against the Soviet military campaign in Afghanistan in the 1980s, his reputation is more that of a religious leader than a military commander.

Akhundzada was head of the Sharia Courts in the 1990s, when the Taliban meted out punishments under strict Islamic law – publicly executing murderers and adulterers, and amputating the hands and feet of thieves.

You can read more on the Taliban leadership structure here.

Supreme commander of the Taliban Hibatullah Akhundzada has told the new government to uphold Islamic rules and Sharia law in Afghanistan.

In a statement released in English, he also urged those in charge to protect the country's highest interests and ensure "lasting peace, prosperity and development".

It's the supreme leader's first message since the Taliban swept to power in the country.

Mentioning education, he said the government "will have a duty to provide a healthy and safe environment for religious and modern sciences to all countrymen within the framework of Sharia."

There were already fears that the education of girls and women will suffer under Taliban control, along with other freedoms. During the last Taliban rule, women could not go outside without a male escort and female education was banned.

On Monday, images showed some universities dividing male and female students with curtains or other barriers.

Image source, Reuters