The Taliban leaders in line to become de facto rulers of Afghanistan

The task facing the new head of state will be more challenging than 1996. But who is in the running for a governing role?

Last time the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan - in 1996 - there was never any question of what form of government they would install and who would rule the country. They were filling a vacuum, and Mullah Mohammed Omar, the reclusive cleric who had led the movement since its beginnings two years earlier, took charge.

Then, Kabul was a shattered husk, with a tiny hungry, scared population, almost no economic activity, no telephones and public transport provided by ancient Russian-made cars or 1970s buses once driven from Germany. The Taliban could impose whatever they wanted.