Afghan Taliban release new leader “Mullah Akhtar Mansoor”

China has expressed its backing for Pakistan and other parties to “push for peace and reconciliation” in the war-torn Afghanistan, days after the second round of peace talks were put off following news of Taliban chief Mullah Omar’s death.

According to Schultz, the U.S. government is still not in a position to confirm when Mullah Omar died.

The Taliban’s declaration on Friday that its supreme council has appointed Mullah Mohammad Akhtar Mansoor as its new leader, is a beacon of hope for the revival of peace talks that were supposed to take place between the group and the Afghan government in China or Pakistan. With the revelation that Mullah Omar is dead, Taliban members are suddenly finding new opportunities for disagreement and dissent.

The real Mansoor had been a strong advocate of peace talks, and supported meetings in Doha this year, where for the first time the Taliban used the word “election” and made more moderate statements about the role of women.

Spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed reports of Omar’s death, although he said it occurred more recently than April 2013, which is when the Afghanistan government said he died earlier this week. The Taliban movement itself was reported to be riven by divisions about whether or not he was alive, and frustration about the leadership void he created or bequeathed.

Mullah Mansoor derives his political influence from Kandahar, the spiritual home of the Taliban movement.

Haqqani had for years been bed-ridden by illness, leaving his son Sirajuddin to take command of the group, which was based in Pakistan’s North Waziristan tribal area until a Pakistani anti-militant army operation began there last year.

The council also elected Sirajuddin Haqqani, the chief of dreaded Haqqani network as deputy of the Taliban’s leader. The U.S. government has offered a $5 million reward for information leading to his capture.

The Independent has seen evidence that, at least nine months ago, senior commanders within the Taliban knew of their leader’s death and were already plotting who would succeed him.

Yaqoob and his uncle Abdul Manan, Omar’s younger brother, were among more than a dozen Taliban figures who walked out of Wednesday’s leadership meeting held in the western Pakistani city of Quetta, according to three people who were at the shura, or gathering.

Afghans with knowledge of Mansoor’s years with the Taliban describe him as a low-level administrator who mostly dealt with organizational matters and was not among the top 10 Taliban leaders at the time.

Taliban attacks against Afghan officials and forces have intensified with their annual warm-weather offensive.