In a swift succession of power this week, the Taliban announced Wednesday that the former leader of the organization’s court system, Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada would take over following Mansour’s death, which the group finally confirmed.
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But current and former U.S. government experts and independent analysts said they saw little chance of that happening, with one United States defence official noting the Taliban announcement of Akhundzada’s accession made no mention of negotiations.
Wednesday’s announcement, following a meeting of the Taliban’s main shura, or leadership council, ended days of confusion during which the Taliban declined to confirm the death of Mansour in a drone strike in Pakistan on Saturday.
The group called Mawlawi Haibatullah Akhundzada the “natural choice” for the position and confirmed for the first time in a statement that their former head, Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansour, had been killed last week.
He is said to have issued numerous rulings on how Muslims should comply with the Taliban’s extreme interpretation of Islam, and adjudicated internal disputes.
Pakistani authorities have detained two officials from southwestern Baluchistan who helped Mansour obtain his Pakistani national identity card, the interior ministry said.
Akhundzada is a religious scholar who served as the Taliban’s chief justice before his appointment as a deputy to Mansour.
After the Taliban named Akhundzada its new leader, an audio recording was released purportedly of Akhundzada insisting the Taliban would not join “any type of peace talks”.
The executions earlier this month were approved as part of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s new hardline policy against the insurgents after a brazen Taliban attack in April killed at least 64 people.
Aziz says the drone attack has “undermined the Afghan peace process” but he still believes that the way to resolve the Afghanistan’s conflict is through negotiation.
“He is an individual who, as head of the Taliban, was specifically targeting USA personnel and troops inside of Afghanistan”, said Obama.
Akhundzada, who is believed to be around 60 years of age and a member of the powerful Noorzai tribe, was a close aide to Omar. They are Sirajuddin Haqqani, who was also one of Mansour’s deputies, and the son of Mullah Omar, Mullah Yaqoub.
“We consider North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and the USA troops as invaders and our resistance movement will continue”, the source said Wednesday, after Akhundzada’s leadership was announced.
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Rasool’s deputy, Mullah Abdul Manan Niazi, said the faction would not accept Akhundzada’s leadership for the same reason they rejected Mansour: He was elected by a small clique of Pakistan-based insiders with little input from the rank-and-file or field commanders in Afghanistan.
