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So what is going on? Enemies are endeavoring to “fracture and undermine the Taliban’s jihad and empower themselves”, he said.

Finding a unifying leader like Mullah Omar will be nearly impossible for the Taliban, so a split is likely, it said.

“This confirmation of his death will spark a messy, drawn-out, and likely violent leadership crisis”, Kugelman told AFP.

Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansoor will serve as the group’s new leader, the Taliban confirmed in a statement Friday.

The new leader of the Taliban, Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour, has declared that “the jihad will continue until there is an Islamic system” in Afghanistan, and he called on the Taliban to remain unified just as they had when his predecessor was at the helm.

In one attack, a suicide bomber dressed in police uniform targeted police recruits in front of the Kabul Police Academy, killing 25 and injuring 28 more.

That’s when Yaqoob, and his principal backer, Zakir, a senior Taliban military commander, sacked by Akhtar Mansoor in April 2014, began whispering about the likelihood of Omar’s possible death.

Reportedly, Pakistan has said the speaker was not invited, as IHK is a disputed territory.

The brother of Mullah Mohammad Omar on Sunday joined a growing chorus of opposition to the opaque selection of the late Taliban leader’s successor, indicating widening rifts within the militant group as it weighs whether to revive peace talks or intensify its 14-year...

“We will do everything in our power politically so that peace and stability return to Syria”, said Iranian President Hassan Rowhani during a meeting with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem.

Earlier, reports had said that following Omar’s death, Mansour was elected as the group’s leader after the Taliban Shura Council met at an undisclosed location in the border region of Pakistan and Afghanistan to decide on Omar’s replacement.

There were no claims of responsibility late Friday.

Policemen keep watch at the site of a bomb attack in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Said to be in his mid-80s, Haqqani fought against the 1980s Soviet occupation of Afghanistan as a commander of the Hizb-e-Islami Yunus Khalis group but is more noted for the role his Haqqani network faction of the Taliban played in attacking U.S.-led foreign forces after they...

The Taliban on Friday formally announced their new leader, saying he had been running the insurgent group’s operations for years in the absence of former leader Mullah Mohammad Omar.