Afghanistan gets cabinet after 106 days

Afghanistan's government has announced its first cabinet at a press conference in Kabul, 106 days after President Ashraf Ghani was inaugurated.

The announcement was made in a televised address by Ghani's chief of staff Salam Rahimi.

The names of the 25-member cabinet will now be sent to the parliament for confirmation, Rahimi said.

At the press conference, the head of the spy agency and the central bank governor were also announced.

Three women are in the cabinet.

All the faces in the cabinet are new, except for the head of the intelligence agency, the National Directorate of Security, Rahmatullah Nabil, who was asked to continue from the previous Hamid Karzai administration.

The attorney general and supreme court chief justice positions remain vacant.

The cabinet impasse lasted for more than 100 days due to disagreement between Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah regarding the nominees for key ministries.

Ghani's government was widely criticised in recent weeks for failing to meet the deadlines repeatedly for the cabinet formation.

Top government officials said that it hindered the work of the ministries and departments.