For some Mansour was the obvious choice to succeed Mullah Omar, the one-eyed warrior-cleric who led the Taliban from its rise in the chaos of the Afghan civil war of the 1990s.
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The death of Omar was also announced by Afghan government and Taliban admitted it after initial denial.
He was appointed by senior religious leaders and Taliban council.
It describes Mansoor as an “active director” of the jihad, or holy war, for some years. The Taliban’s second-in-command, Akhtar Mohammad Mansour, was elected the leader by a shura council on Thursday, however, one of Omar’s former aides, Mohammad Hassan Rahmani, told Radio Free Afghanistan that Mansour faces “significant opposition from within” (VOA, RFE/RL). Chinese officials increasingly seemilitancy in the region as a threat to Beijing’s plans for economic growth and political stability in western China, which borders both Afghanistan and Pakistan. “How can they claim to be the opposition to the Afghan government and to represent all factions of the organization when they are outside the country?” The diplomat spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the ongoing talks.
At the same time, the Obama administration’s withdrawal of the vast majority of US troops has bolstered the efforts of the Taliban hardliners. “So now who should talk to whom”, he said.
The White House said in a statement that his death “represents a chance for yet more progress on the path to a stable, secure Afghanistan”. He had not been seen in public since fleeing when the Taliban were ousted from power in 2001 after s U.S.-led invasion. Further splintering within the Taliban could see more local commanders defect to other extremist groups, such as the Islamic State group, which has taken control of large parts of Iraq and Syria and is believed to have recruited some Taliban as it tries to establish a presence in Afghanistan.
Some Taliban are also unhappy at the thought Mansour may have deceived them for over a year about Omar’s death and others accuse him of riding roughshod over the process to appoint a successor. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has made peace talks with the Taliban a priority.
Opponents of Mansour criticise him for being too close to Pakistan’s military, which has long been accused of supporting the Afghan insurgency to maintain regional influence.
The Taliban reacted by pulling out of peace talks in that were agreed to be scheduled to take place on Friday.
Zakir is a hardliner who has been in conflict with Mansoor for years now, and has a strong power base in Helmand province.
In another shift for the Taliban, it gave the No. 2 post to the head of a militant group, known as the Haqqani network, which has connections to al-Qaida.
The militant group has not officially given out a statement over Haqqani’s demise yet.
A statement from Pakistan’s foreign minister said the Taliban had requested the postponement amid “uncertainty” following confirmation of the death of Omar. That hope has been shot down, at least for now.
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“We are optimistic”, said the government official.
