New Afghan Taliban leader urges unity, continued militancy
The new leader of Afghan Taliban has made his first public announcement, calling for unity among the members of the terrorist group, while vowing to continue its campaign across Afghanistan.
“We should keep our unity, we must be united,” Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansoor said in a message released on Saturday.
The Taliban on Thursday confirmed that their former leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, had been dead and said they had chosen Mansoor as his successor.
“This is a big responsibly on us. This is not the work of one, two or three people. The onus is upon us all to carry on” with the campaign, he said.
The 30-minute audio message also included comments about the peace talks with the Afghan government.
Taliban pulled out of the talks that had been scheduled for Friday in Pakistan after Mullah Omar’s death became public on Wednesday. Kabul announced Mullah Omar’s death on Wednesday, saying that the reclusive leader had been dead since April 2013.
Haqqani founder not dead: Taliban
Meanwhile, the Afghan Taliban have denied reports by Pakistani media claiming that the founder of the Haqqani militant network had died.
The Haqqani network, founded by Jalaluddin Haqqani, is a militant group affiliated with the Taliban.
The militant group is blamed for some of the most deadly terrorist attacks carried out in Afghanistan, including the Indian Embassy bombing, the attack on Serena Hotel and the coordinated attacks on the Justice Ministry complex over the past decade.
Pakistani media had reported on Friday the death of Haqqani as his son, Sirajuddin, the leader of the group, was chosen as one of the deputy chiefs of the new Taliban leader.
Haqqani family sources also denied the claims.
“I talked to his grandson (in eastern Afghanistan) and he completely rejected rumors of his [grandfather’s] death,” said an Afghan Taliban commander who spoke to AFP.
The US considers both the father and the son as “global terrorists.” Sirajuddin has a $10-million bounty on his head.
The Haqqani network was formed 30 years ago to fend off the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and still boasts a strong presence in eastern Afghanistan and in the tribal districts of North Waziristan in Pakistan’s restive northwest along the Afghan border.
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