Kabul, August 4: The son of late Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar has reportedly been killed, sections of the Afghan media reported Tuesday.
“Mullah Yaqub, the son of Mullah Omar, was killed a couple of days ago,” the Daily Outlook reported quoting lawmaker Zahir Qadir. Mullah Yaqub, according to Qadir, had attempted to succeed his father to lead Taliban fighters but was mysteriously assassinated by Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansoor, who has already been appointed by his supporters to lead the Taliban group.
The private television channel Tolo has also reported Mullah Yaqub’s death, also quoting lawmaker Qadir. Taliban militants have not commented on the report.
Cracks have appeared in the Taliban ranks since the death of their leader Mullah Mohammad Omar which was confirmed by Taliban outfit on Thursday.
Some Taliban senior leaders, including Mullah Hassan Rahmani and Mullah Razaq Akhund, two right-hand men of Omar during the Taliban rule, have challenged Mullah Mansoor’s legitimacy to lead the Taliban while Mansoor’s supporters have been lobbying to convince the militants make allegiance to the new leader.
The supporters and opponents of Mullah Mansoor, according to media reports, have fought each other in the northern province of Kunduz and in parts of Herat in the west over the past couple of days.
Head of Taliban’s Qatar office quits as leadership rift deepens
Kabul: The head of the Taliban’s Qatar-based political office has stepped down, a statement said, a high-profile resignation within leadership ranks highlighting growing discord over the movement’s recent power transition.
Mullah Akhtar Mansour was announced as the new Taliban chief on Friday after the insurgents confirmed the death of Mullah Omar, who led the militant movement for some 20 years.
But splits immediately emerged between Mansour and rivals challenging his appointment, exposing the Taliban’s biggest leadership crisis in recent years and one that raises the risk of a factional split.
Underscoring the deepening internal divisions, Tayeb Agha stepped down on Monday as head of the Taliban’s political office, set up in Qatar in 2013 to facilitate peace talks, according to a statement.
The Taliban source said Mansour’s aides were trying to convince Agha to withdraw his resignation but his statement adds to a growing chorus of dissent in the movement over the increasingly bitter political transition.
“The death of Mullah Omar was kept secret for two years,” Agha said. “I consider this a historical mistake.”
The Taliban have not given details of when and where Omar died but the Afghan government said it happened in Karachi in April 2013. IANS
