Afghan Taliban names new leader

Peshawar, July 30

The Taliban have chosen supreme leader Mullah Omar’s deputy to replace him, two militant commanders said on Thursday, as Pakistan announced that scheduled peace talks between the insurgents and the Afghan government would be postponed.

Pakistan cited a statement in Kabul on Wednesday about Omar’s death as the reason for the delay in negotiations, amid fears that it could trigger a potentially bloody succession battle.

Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour was appointed leader at a meeting of the Taliban’s top representatives, many of whom are based in the Pakistani city of Quetta, according to the sources who were present at the shura, or gathering.

“The shura held outside Quetta unanimously elected Mullah Mansour as the new emir of the Taliban,” said one commander at the Wednesday night meeting.

“The shura will release a statement shortly.” Siraj Haqqani, leader of the powerful Haqqani militant faction, will be a deputy to Mansour, both commanders added.

Mansour will be only the second leader the Taliban have had since Omar, an elusive figure rarely seen in public who founded the ultra-conservative Islamist movement in the 1990s. — Reuters