A Former Afghan minister returns to Kabul who fled when the Taliban took over Afghanistan last year  on Wednesday after receiving security guarantees as part of the hardline group’s push to attract high-profile people.

Ghulam Farooq Wardak, a member of the cabinets of former presidents Hamid Karzai and Ashraf Ghani, is the latest in a series of returning officials, Taliban officials said seeking to prop up a government that has yet to gain international recognition.

Wardak had returned from Turkiye, said Ahmad Wasiq, spokesman for a body set up by the Taliban to negotiate the return of high-profile Afghans abroad.

Other officials who returned included a former Defense Ministry spokesman, the former head of Afghanistan’s national power company and some military officials, he said.

Farooq Wardak spoke to state media after landing in Afghanistan. “Most of the authorities are thinking about going back,” said the former education minister, adding that he felt respect and happiness in his home, although he warned that a small group might not want to return.

Most high-profile officials fled Afghanistan when the Taliban seized power last August, including Ashraf Ghani, the president at the time, who is now in the United Arab Emirates. Hamid Karzai remains in Kabul.

The Taliban set up the high-powered panel a few weeks ago to negotiate the returns, with nine members, including military and intelligence chiefs.