Taliban Announces New Leader as Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansoor

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.

This is while Afghan government sources said that Mullah Omar had chosen former deputy and co-founder of the movement, Mullah Baradar Akhund, who is seen as being more inclined to peace talks with Kabul, as his successor. He served in the Taliban government after it took power in 1996 following years of civil war.

Still, “Afghanistan remains a risky place, and the Afghan people still suffer from a brutal insurgency that continues to take innocent lives and hinder Afghanistan’s prospects for peace“, the White House statement said.

The Afghan Taliban has a new leader, one who appears pragmatic and moderate compared to the near-mythical figure he replaces. “The peace talks too are negotiable and it’s impossible to happen if the Taliban commanders on the ground are not a part of it”.

Hours after Mullah Akhtar’s appointment, Taliban today confirmed the death of Mullah Omar in a statement. The Taliban are believed to have splintered under pressure to enter into peace talks with the Afghan government after nearly 14 years of war.

Michael Kugelman, Afghanistan expert at the Washington-based Woodrow Wilson worldwide Center for Scholars, said the loss of their long-time leader was a huge blow for the Taliban.

Mansour formerly headed the council, also known as the Quetta Shura, which is composed of longtime leaders who direct the Taliban’s operations from Pakistan’s Balochistan province, according to the Jamestown Foundation, a global research and analysis group.

The group also named two deputies to Mansoor – Maulvi Haibatullah Akhunzada, who headed the group’s judiciary, and Sirajuddin Haqqani, son of a leader of the Haqqani network, a group that operates in close coordination with the Taliban.

Haqqani carries an American bounty of United States dollars 10 million on his head as a leader of the Haqqani network, which is linked with al-Qaeda.

Pakistan has tried to sell to the world the notion that the Taliban was a home-grown Afghan phenomenon and a genuine resistance movement, but all this while, it hosted the jihadist group’s top leadership, provided it sanctuary and logistic support, and unleashed it on Afghanistan. “So this is a completely new situation”, said Bette Dam, author of an upcoming biography of the Taliban leader. It meant Mullah Omar was viewed by the Taliban and al-Qaida as the leader of Muslims, although he never declared himself caliph.

“Mullah Omar’s death will be a very effective recruitment tool for IS, and could help it gain quite a few new recruits in a region where it is still struggling to make inroads”.

A number of have left the motion altogether, pledging allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and concentrating on the Taliban itself.

Initially a minor figure, he rose within the group after more senior fighters were killed or arrested by Pakistani security forces.

The Taliban has taken control of pockets of territory across the country since North Atlantic Treaty Organisation withdrew most of its forces at the end of 2014, leaving the Afghan army and police to quell the violence.