The Afghan Taliban has confirmed that its former leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour was killed in a us drone strike last week and appointed a successor.
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Pakistani foreign policy chief Sartaj Aziz told a news conference in Islamabad Thursday that “all indications” available from Pakistani officials, who he said were in touch with the Taliban, suggested its slain chief, Mullah Akhtar Mansoor, was readying to come to the negotiating table.
Reached by telephone, spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the Taliban were launching an investigation to learn who was distributing the recording, in which the person identified as new leader Haibatullah Akhundzada vowed to not to negotiate.
A day earlier, the Taliban shura discussed six names including Maulvi Haibatullah, Mullah Abdul Qayyum Zakir, Mullah Ahmed Rabbani, Mullah Hasan Akhund (former foreign minister and governor of Qandahar during the Taliban rule), Sirajuddin Haqqani, son of Jalaluddin Haqqani and head of the Haqqani network, and Mullah Muhammad Yaqoob, son of former Taliban leader Mullah Muhammad Omar, to head the movement.
In this undated and unknown location photo, the new leader of Taliban fighters, Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada poses for a portrait.
Late past year, Obama announced he would keep 9,800 USA military personnel in Afghanistan through most of 2016. He maintained that the new Taliban leader has very little combat experience but his command on matters related to religion is beyond doubt.
The surprise announcement coincided with a Taliban suicide bombing that targeted court employees near Kabul, killing 11 people in an assault that illustrated the potency of the insurgency despite the change of leadership.
Pakistani authorities have always been accused by both Kabul and Washington of giving shelter and support to some Taliban leaders – an accusation that Islamabad denies. “We believe that this action has undermined the Afghan peace process”, he said.
The U.S. drone strike that killed the Taliban’s leader has also set up a potential leadership struggle between two of the terror group’s up-and-comers, and may signal more attacks on Western targets.
Speaking from Vietnam on Monday, U.S. President Barack Obama said Mansour’s death was an “important milestone” in the effort to bring peace to Afghanistan. “We were not against Mullah Akhtar Mansour but the way he was selected, and yet again they sit together and choose one another”.
The Taliban’s supreme council held emergency meetings that began Sunday in southwest Pakistan to try to find a unifying figure for the leadership post.
On being asked by a reporter that the United States did not warn Pakistan before targeting Taliban leader Mullah Mansour in the Pakistani territory, did it include lack of trust on sensitive issues? “In less than a year, peace process has been scuttled twice”, the Pakistani adviser said, adding that Pakistan believes there is no military solution to the conflict in Afghanistan.
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A breakaway faction led by Mullah Rassoul rejected Akhundzada’s appointment, saying he was selected inside Pakistan without any broad consultation with field commanders in Afghanistan. The insurgents have been fighting to overthrow the Kabul government since 2001, when their own Islamist regime was overthrown by the USA invasion.
