A top Taliban official announced his resignation on Tuesday amid a growing leadership struggle in the Afghan insurgent movement after the news of the death of leader Mullah Mohammad Omar last week.
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Mullah Omar’s death has been confirmed by the militant organisation after Afghanistan’s security agency said last week that he had died in April 2013.
“Mansour is seen as a man of Pakistan – that is why severe differences are going on among the Taliban leadership”, a mid-level Taliban official told AFP.
The loss of Omar has raised concerns of a succession crisis that could splinter the group between relatively moderate figures who back Pakistan-mediated peace talks and more radical field commanders committed to overthrowing the Kabul government and reverting to the harsh Islamic rule of the 1990s.
Mullah Akhtar Mansoor, who had served as Mullah Omar’s deputy, was chosen to succeed him by the group’s Supreme Council, meeting in the Pakistani city of Quetta.
Sources with knowledge of the nascent Afghan peace process also dismissed reports of Mulla Omar’s death, suggesting they are aimed at derailing the second round of talks planned to take place in Pakistan. This set off fierce fighting between the rivals and the Taliban arrested the defectors, he said. He said the council would next meet with Mullah Mansoor.
The Taliban, meanwhile, issued another statement Tuesday urging followers to disregard “enemy propaganda” about internal fractures and to unite behind Mullah Mansoor.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said he could not confirm the statement came from Agha but two senior members of the Qatar office confirmed he had resigned on Monday.
Mansour stepped down after objection from Omar’s son Yaqub and brother Manan over his appointment. The IS, which already controls about one-third of Syria and Iraq, is thought to have a small but growing presence in Afghanistan.
Abdul Raouf Ahmadi, a police spokesman in the western province of Herat, said eight fighters, including a commander, were killed on Sunday in a battle over the leadership between two groups in a village in Shindand district.
“Decisions made by the Taliban are made according to religious principles, not according to an inheritable legacy, so it won’t be considered necessary for Mullah Omar’s son to take the leadership role”, he said.
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A statement from the National Directorate of Security said public gatherings to commemorate Mullah Omar’s death would be a “legitimate military target”.
