Afghan govt hopes to divide and conquer Taliban

The contradictory reports come a day after the Taliban confirmed that its founder Mullah Mohammed Omar had some time ago, signifying a major shift in Afghanistan’s militant leadership.

The Taliban named Mullah Akhtar Mansour as their new chief Friday, a historic power transition that raises hopes a more moderate leadership will pave the way for an end to Afghanistan’s bloody war.

He takes over from Omar the formal title of “amir-al-mumineen”, or “leader of the faithful, and is “a reliable and suitable person for shouldering heavy tasks”, the insurgent group said in an online statement”.

Mansoor is among Taliban leaders who have always been in favor of peace talks. Pakistan cited the reports of Omar’s death as the reason for delaying the talks, because of concerns that a battle for succession could further deepen discord between the Taliban’s numerous factions.

He was one of the top Taliban leaders whose accounts the US had frozen as a result of the 9/11 attacks.

Under Omar’s leadership, the Taliban offered haven to al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, precipitating the U.S. military action in Afghanistan after the terror attacks of September 11, 2001.

The dispute threatens to derail embryonic peace talks and a rift could allow other Jihadist groups, such as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, a foothold in Afghanistan.

And Mark Toner, the US State Department’s deputy spokesman, said Omar’s death was “clearly a moment of opportunity and we would encourage the Taliban to use this time of opportunity to make genuine peace with the Afghan government”.

According to the Afghan Biographies website, the newly appointed Taliban leader was born in 1960 in Afghanistan’s Kandahar province, the birthplace of the Taliban located along the country’s border with Pakistan.

Funeral prayers were held in a number of Pakistani cities to remember Mullah Omar.

But many Taliban, and some Afghan officials, fear the recent talks are a ploy by Pakistan to retain control. The reign of the Taliban in Afghanistan was full of many horrors including severe discrimination against and brutal killing of Hazaras and other minority groups and the infamous destruction of the historical statues of the Buddha at Bamiyan.

Following Mansoor’s election, the Taliban chose Sirajuddin Haqqani as its new deputy leader, the Taliban sources said.

The council also elected Sirajuddin Haqqani, the chief of dreaded Haqqani network as deputy of the Taliban’s leader.

“He is very Experienced in the Taliban rank, and: has a broad knowledge about the protest movement, “Said Waheed Muzhda, a Kabul-based analyst who served in the 1996-2001 Taliban foreign ministry’s diet”.

“This is an opportunity for the Afghan government to review its negotiating strategy, to reactivate the High Peace Council with a new structure, making it more independent, with new people and the authority to negotiate on behalf of all Afghans”, Mir said, referring to the body charged with bringing the Taliban into a dialogue aimed at ending the war.

Shashank Joshi, a senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, said the leadership question had not triggered fresh splits but instead illustrated existing fractures that could devalue any peace process.