New Taliban head calls for unity in first audio message

“If he refuses, the council could elect a new leader”, he added.

A Taliban representative, and the group’s Twitter account confirmed, the death of Omar. “This is a big responsibly on us”.

‘We should all work to preserve unity, division in our ranks will only please our enemies, and cause further problems for us, ‘ he said in the recording released by the group on Saturday.

The family in a statement declined to back Akhtar Mansoor who was one of the trusted leaders of Mullah Omar and the founding member, according to senior Taliban leaders.

The Afghan Taliban’s Supreme Council was not taken into confidence over the appointment of the group’s new leader following reports of Mullah Omar’s death, said a report published on the BBC.

In the audio recording, Mansoor identifies Sheikh Rehmatullah and Siraj Haqqani as his deputies and says he wishes to run the Taliban just as his predecessor had done.

The Taliban has not yet commented on the claims.

U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Daniel Feldman, the top American diplomat working on Afghan peace efforts, said the United States hopes all sides will move beyond the cancellation of Friday’s scheduled peace talks following confirmation of Omar’s death.

Mansoor is seen as close to Pakistan, which is believed to have sheltered and supported the insurgents through the war.

Afghan forces also retook control Friday of Naw Zad district in Helmand province after three days of fierce fighting with the Taliban, the officials said.