The group following a statement earlier last month said Taliban leaders Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansoor and Gull Agha.
Advertisement
The new Afghan Taliban chief, Mullah Akhtar Mansoor, has not closed the option of the fragile peace talks in his first audio message the group released to the media at the weekend. The 30-minute speech attributed to Mansoor was emailed to The Associated Press by the Taliban’s spokesman.
The Afghan Taliban named Mullah Mansour as their new chief on Friday, a historic power transition that raises hopes of paving the way for peace talks despite divisions within insurgent ranks. “We have fought for 25 years and we will not lose our achievements”.
“We don’t pay attention to this kind of propaganda, like peace talks or other related issues”. Whatever happens must comply with Sharia law, whether that be jihad, or talks, or an invitation to either. However, a spokesman for the group told BBC that Mullah Mansoor had not been appointed “by all Taliban” which, he said, was against Shariah.
On Friday, Taliban commanders who attended the meeting that chose Mansour as Omar’s successor told Reuters that Omar’s son and brother had walked out of the gathering in protest.
The White House said U.S. intelligence can confirm Taliban leader Omar is dead, but did not say how long ago he died or under what circumstances.
Mansoor’s first priority seems to be quelling internal opposition to his election.
Mullah Abdul Manan’s comments came after Mullah Omar’s son, Yacoub, also said the new leader did not have the support of the wider Taliban. He said the vote took place among a small clique of Mansoor’s supporters and demanded a re-election that includes all Taliban commanders, including those fighting in Afghanistan. “This is a big responsibility on us”.
Blazes raging in forests and woodlands across California have taken the life of a firefighter, burned two dozen homes and forced thousands of people to flee as crews continue to battle the flames from the air and the ground.
“We will continue our jihad until the creation of an Islamic system”.
But instead of rallying the group around a new leader, the disclosure appears to have widened rifts that threaten to fragment Afghanistan’s most formidable fighting force.
“If he gets the credibility, it might not be such bad news to have Mansour replace the invisible Mullah Omar“, Dam said.
If Mansoor fails to appease his fighters and field commanders, the ultimate beneficiary could be the Islamic State. Whether he’ll be keen to sit down for peace talks with the Afghan government remains in question. He is expected to return to Kabul in the coming days, his office said.
LONDON – Three relatives of the late al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden were among four people killed when a private jet crashed on landing in southern England, British police confirmed Saturday. It said Haqqani backed Mansoor as the Taliban’s leader. A day later, the Taliban confirmed that Omar had died, but said little about the timing and claimed that he had never left Afghanistan, which he governed from 1996 to 2001. “Haqqani… was ill before but he has been blessed with good health for a prolonged period now and has no troubles currently”.
Advertisement
Like Mullah Omar, Haqqani has been reported dead on a number of occasions, but the reports have not been independently verified.
