The new leader of the Afghan Taliban, Mullah Mansour, called for unity and raised the possibility of peace talks with the government in Kabul in a message released on Tuesday to mark the upcoming Muslim festival of Eid.
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Around 13,000 North Atlantic Treaty Organisation troops are engaged in a new two-year training mission in the region.
Other military hardware has fallen in the hands of opposing forces in Afghanistan, a common phenomenon in any conflict, but some Afghan officials said Humvees posed a particular threat because they could be used for a variety of roles by the Taliban, including sneak attacks.
In a statement, the council said the death of Taliban’s founder and long-time supreme leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, had plunged the Afghan people and the world into a dilemma. Moreover, questions surrounding the support base of his successor, Akhtar Muhammad Mansour, further suggested that the Taliban’s days as a formidable fighting force might be numbered.
The stolen gear is dwarfed by the hundreds of automobiles the Afghan military and police have at their disposal, and incidents just like the one in Helmand have been comparatively uncommon.
The statement said nearly 70 Taliban fighters were also killed by Afghan security forces over the same period.
The militants have spent recent weeks trying to patch up a rift in their movement sparked by the power struggle which followed the admission that Omar had died in 2013.
Others said the process to choose Mansour as his successor was rushed and even biased.
It urged Mullah Mansour to listen to their words of wisdom and respect the nation’s and Taliban’s determination and reconsider the proposal the High Council had sent to him through the mediating scholars.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani telephoned Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday, relieving tensions caused by a string of Taliban attacks allegedly planned by the Afghan Taliban’s Pakistan-based leaders.
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Fourteen safety personnel have been killed and a minimum of seven wounded within the assault within the Musa Qala district of the southern province, stated Omar Zwak, spokesman for the provincial governor. The casualties have reached their highest level since the United Nations began issuing its authoritative reports in 2009.
