When the Taliban issued a statement Wednesday confirming that its top man, Mullah Akhtar Mansour, was killed in a recent US strike, it also announced a new leadership team.
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Answering another question, Toner said; “we’ve consistently expressed our concern to the highest levels of the government of Pakistan about their continued tolerance for Afghan Taliban groups, and that includes the Haqqani Network”.
Mullah Omar, according to the source, was a charismatic leader that had kept Taliban fighters as an united force until his death, but the group was splintered into two major factions under Mansoor’s leadership and there would be more fragmentation if the new Taliban leader fails to reconcile differences with the Rasoul Akhund faction.
News of the appointment came as a suicide bomber attacked a bus carrying staff from an appeal court west of Kabul, killing 11 people and wounding as many as 10 others, including at least six children. The Taliban claimed responsibility. The slain Mansour was thought to be an obstacle to the peace process.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani in April said that he “no longer expects Pakistan to bring Taliban to the peace table”, but instead stated that Pakistan must act against the insurgents within its territory.
Unlike a similar meeting held last July, when an important faction walked out in protest, delegates agreed on the choice of Akhundzada, said Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid.
When the Taliban captured Afghanistan’s western Farah province, he was put in charge of fighting crime in the area. “We were not against Mullah Akhtar Mansour but the way he was selected, and yet again they sit together and choose one another….”
Haibatullah Akhunzada, member of the conservative old guard, to head group whose last leader died in a USA drone strike.
Akhundzada, formerly one of Mansour’s deputies, faces the enormous challenge of unifying an increasingly fragmented militant movement while it remains unclear whether he will emulate Mansour in shunning peace talks with the Afghan government. “He is unlikely to negotiate peace with the Afghan government”.
A member of the Noorzai tribe, he is said to be aged around 50 years, and comes from a line of religious scholars.
Sayed Mohammad Akbar Agha, a former Taliban commander, tells CNN Akhundzada is from Panjwai district in Kandahar province, the heartland of the Taliban.
The official said it is possible the Taliban is grooming Yaqoob to run the organization some day. Pakistan has previously been accused by both the USA and Afghan governments of providing shelter for Taliban leaders.
Underscoring the paranoia that has gripped the movement since Mansour’s death, some Taliban leaders chose not to attend in person, sending representatives or contributing via WhatsApp.
Well-respected by Taliban commanders as an elder and cleric of the group, Mawlawi Haibatullah led the group through the selection process amidst a growing discord.
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Senior Taliban figures had hoped Mansour’s death and Akhundzada’s ascension could help heal some of those rifts. Yaqoub is the son of Mullah Mohammed Omar, the late Taliban leader who Mansour officially replaced previous year.
