The Afghan Taliban named an Islamic legal scholar who was one of former leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour’s deputies to succeed him yesterday, after confirming Mansour’s death in a United States drone strike at the weekend.
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The United States hopes new Taliban leader, Mullah Habatullah Akhundzada will choose peace and work towards a negotiated solution to bring an end to violence in Afghanistan, a US State department spokesman said on Wednesday.
The statement also said that Sirajuddin Haqqani, an implacable foe of American forces, and Mullah Yakoub, the son of Taleban founder Mullah Omar, have been appointed as the deputies of new leader Akhundzada, a religious scholar who was named in a United Nations (UN) report previous year as the Taleban’s former chief justice.
Taliban new leader Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada is seen in an undated photograph, posted on a Taliban twitter feed on May 25, 2016, and identified separately by several Taliban officials, who declined be named.
Sirajuddin Haqqani, the head of a feared network that is blamed for many deadly bomb attacks in Kabul in recent years, and Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob, son of Taliban founder Mullah Mohammad Omar, will serve as his deputies.
Pakistan’s remarks comes a day after the Afghan Taliban picked a top cleric, Maulvi Haibatullah Akhundzada, as their new chief.
Obama also said he expected the Taliban to continue to carry out attacks following the appointment of a new leader.
The paper noted that Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan also said the killing of Mullah Akhtar Mansoor would scupper any chances of peace talks and could embolden other states to pursue their enemies in other countries. Killing him won’t automatically resuscitate the negotiations, but it might degrade the Taliban’s cohesion and exacerbate its internal struggles.
Akhundzada faces a similar challenge in unifying Taliban ranks.
One of Mansour’s two deputies, Haibatullah Akhundzada, got the nod. The Taliban promptly claimed responsibility for the attack. Instead, he intensified the war in Afghanistan, now in its 15th year. The revelation of Mullah Omar’s death and Mansour’s deception led to widespread mistrust, with some senior leaders leaving the group to set up their own factions. On Monday, the Taliban elected their new chief.
Pakistan has refused to confirm the death of Mullah Mansoor in the U.S. drone strike even after U.S. President Barack Obama and the Afghan government have both announced his death.
Pakistani authorities have detained two officials from southwestern Baluchistan who helped Mansour obtain his Pakistani national identity card, the interior ministry said.
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Rana stressed that his deputies will likely play a more active role, with Haqqani overseeing the military side and Yakoub the political side.
