Motmaen said Mullah Mansour had been practically in charge of all organisational matters for five or six years and all commissions, all shadow governors and all senior leaders had been working under his leadership even when Mullah Omar was alive.
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The Taliban has stepped up attacks across the country since US and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation forces shifted from a combat to a support and training role at the end of last year, drawing to a close the 13-year military campaign Operation Enduring Freedom.
The attacks, which follow a change of leadership in the Taliban, have dashed any hopes of an immediate resumption of peace talks with the government and suggest new leader Mullah Mohammad Akhtar Mansour intends to send a message that there will be no letup in the insurgency. He had not been seen in public since fleeing over the border into Pakistan after the 2001 U.S.-led invasion that ousted the Taliban.
Ghani’s coalition government, weakened by infighting, has struggled to respond to the crisis, which has been further complicated by uncertainty around the Taliban leadership.
An explosion on Monday at a busy roundabout near the entrance to Kabul’s worldwide airport that wounded at least seven people appears to have been caused by a suicide auto bomb, officials said.
“We don’t want Pakistan to bring the Taliban to peace talks, but to stop the Taliban’s activities on their soil”, he said. The Taliban quickly claimed responsibility for the attack.
“The incident took place when a suicide auto bomber struck the front gate of the airport”, said Kabul police spokesman Ebadullah Karimi.
The heavily fortified Afghan capital was already on high alert following last week’s attacks, which killed at least 50 civilians and security forces personnel in what the United Nations said was the worst day of violence since 2009.
It is widely believed the truck in that attack detonated prematurely – CCTV footage shown on Afghan television purportedly showed the truck hitting a speed bump and then blowing up.
Turns out, Mullah Omar is dead and has been for two years. The disclosure, later confirmed by the Taliban, triggered the internal succession dispute and raised questions about the future direction of the insurgency.
Civilians often bear the brunt of war in Afghanistan as 1,592 civilians had been killed and 3,329 others injured in the first half month of 2015, UNAMA said in a report released recently.
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“The enemy who was fighting to gain territory and claim victory, has now had its backbone broken”, he said of the insurgent group.
