Death fallout halts Afghan peace talks

In an apparent damage-control measure, the Taliban leadership shura was hurriedly convened to nominate the Taliban’s once-upon-a-time civil aviation minister and Omar’s deputy, Akhar Muhammad Mansoor, as the new ameer – also a tacit acknowledgement that the supreme leader is no more.

Mullah Omar’s death poses an existential crisis for the Afghan Taliban, analysts say, potentially presaging a splintering of the movement as the Islamic State group gains a toehold among insurgents enthralled by its battlefield prowess.

However, a former Pakistani official tells the Post that some sections of the government may have wished to keep Mullah Omar’s death a secret to preserve Islamabad’s ability to influence peace talks between a united Taliban and Kabul.

A senior Afghan Taliban commander based in neighbouring Pakistan said Omar had died of natural causes, although he did not specify when.

The editorial wondered what impact the death of Mullah Omar will have on the Taliban and both Afghanistan and Pakistan. He has been given the title of “The Leader of the faithful”.

“The news of his death comes just days before an Afghan government delegation was due to meet Afghan Taliban leaders in Pakistan”.

Afghan Taliban leaders have long had sanctuaries in Pakistan, even as Pakistani government officials have denied offering support in recent years.

Whether Pakistan had indeed shared the highly classified information with President Ghani, whom it began to trust after more than a decade of misgivings with the Afghan leadership, chiefly Hamid Karzai, is not known, or probably may never be known.

But American forces refused to believe that the commanders had given up fighting, and after a series of aggressive night raids he fled to Pakistan, where he helped reshape the Taliban as an insurgent force.

Reports of Mullah Omar’s death and the search for a successor have centered on two competing commanders: Mansur and Mullah Omar’s eldest son, Mullah Mohammad Yuqub.

The series of moves, which also included strengthening ties with a militant faction with al-Qaida links, pointed to possible rifts within the Taliban and a potential major blow to hopes for negotiating an end Afghanistan’s 14-year conflict.

In a statement emailed to media, the Taliban quoted Mullah Omar’s brother and one of his sons as asking for forgiveness for “mistakes” he made at the helm of the militant group.

He said that there was a need to develop confidence building measures to engender trust upon which a consensus on continuation of the reconciliation process was planned, and it was agreed to hold the next meeting after the Eid.

“A spokesman for Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said on Thursday that the authorities were trying to verify the reports”.

“I believe that under him the peace process will be strengthened and the Taliban will become part of political process in Afghanistan“. Afghan intelligence sources had earlier said Omar breathed his last two years ago at a hospital in Karachi.

“There has always been Mullah Omar“.

The founder of the Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist group, which carried out the 2008 Mumbai attack that killed 166 people, tweeted from his official account saying “funeral prayer in absentia is being offered of amir (chief) of hundreds and thousands of Mujahideen”.

The Taliban have ramped up attacks on military and government targets since the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation combat mission ended in December.