In his first public remarks as leader of the Taliban, newly elected chief Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansoor urged those within the organization to settle their differences while continuing the insurgency in Afghanistan.
Advertisement
The statement on Sunday said Haqqani backed Mansoor as the Taliban’s leader.
Observers said the coming days should reveal how the Taliban leadership crisis plays out – a process which could have a seismic effect on Afghanistan’s political landscape. However, none of the claims circulating about Haqqani could be independently verified.
A second Afghan-Taliban meeting scheduled for Friday was called off, but U.S. officials said they remain optimistic about the chances for future talks.
News of Omar’s death prompted speculation as to whether to Taliban would continue peace talks begun on July 7.
“We will continue our jihad until the creation of an Islamic system”.
Some Taliban figures have accused pro-Pakistani circles of imposing Mullah Mansour, who is known for his support for peace talks, on them. The Afghan government said it was more than two years ago. Mullah Omar’s death announcement will likely spark a fresh exodus of disaffected Taliban fighters to the Islamic State’s side.
We moderate comments. Our goal is to provide substantive commentary for a general readership.
If the rumblings turn to violence it will help Mansour’s cause that one of his deputies will be Sirajuddin Haqqani, the leader of a notorious Afghan military group, the Haqqani Network, who has a US bounty worth $10m (£6.4m) on his head for his participation in cross-border attacks on US and coalition forces.
Despite the opposition, Mansour retains a personal power base within the Taliban, and if he can keep the movement together it could lead to a new era for the insurgents.
But, Walden says “there will be people unhappy at the election of Mansoor, because it seems that the decision was made by a relatively small number of Taliban leaders rather than the whole leadership Shura”. The Murree Peace Process, as it has been dubbed after the location of the first round of talks in Pakistan, has been variously described by analysts as dead in the water, postponed, or awaiting the dust swirls to settle before resuming. “Cracks in our lines would benefit our enemies, which will produce more problems for us”, he said.
It would have been only the second formal face-to-face meeting with the Taliban, according to the AP. Perhaps the best attempt at conspiratorial conjecture is this: Pakistanis, who reportedly were the ones that passed on the information of Mullah Omar’s death, sought to scuttle the talks and capitalised on their improved relations with Kabul to share the news and encourage the Afghans to broadcast it to the world.
Mansoor’s selection appears to have the backing of a broad array of Taliban leaders.
Rumors of Haqqani’s demise have circulated and been denied by militants for the previous yr.
If Mansoor fails to appease Taliban fighters and field commanders on the ground, the ultimate beneficiary could be the Islamic State group.
“We will continue the jihad until we establish an Islamic state”, he said.
The top contenders included Mansour and Omar’s son Mullah Yakoub, who sources said was favoured by some commanders but at 26 was considered too young and inexperienced for such a key role. “He was also the Taliban “Governor” of Kandahar as of May 2007″, the United Nations document said.
The Taliban has named Mansoor to replace Taliban founder Omar, whose death was disclosed earlier this week. Mansoor developed his relationship with Pakistani intelligence services during the 1980s while fighting against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, and served as minister of aviation from 1996 to 2001.
Advertisement
Haqqani is the leader of the Haqqani Network, a terrorist group based in Pakistan’s lawless tribal areas that is believed to have conducted many bloody attacks inside Afghanistan.
