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Mawlavi Haibatullah Akhundzada the successor of Mullah Akhtar Mansoor
ISLAMABAD: The Taliban militants group confirmed the death of the group’s supreme leader Mullah Akhtar Mansoor and announced Mawlavi Haibatullah Akhundzada as his successor.
A statement by the group said Mawlavi Akhundzada was appointed as the successor of Mansoor after he was unanimously voted by the leadership council members.
The statement further added that Sirajuddin Haqqani and Mullah Omar’s son Mulah Yaqoob have been appointed as deputy supreme leader of the group.
Mullah Mansoor was killed in a US drone strike in the vicinity of Balochistan province of Pakistan late on Saturday afternoon.
The group’s leadership council started negotiations for the appointment of Mansoor’s successor a day after he was targeted in the airstrike.
Earlier reports suggested that the leader of Haqqani terrorist network Sirajuddin Haqqani and Mullah Omar’s son were the possible successor of Mullah Mansoor.
The group on Tuesday said the death of its leader will not have any affect on the group’s insurgency.
The US Department of Defense first informed regarding the attack on Mulllah Mansoor but his killing was cofirmed by the Afghan security institutions including the National Directorate of Security.
The Afghan security institutions also called Mullah Mansoor’s death a major achievement in fight against terrorism, insisting that the elimination of Mansoor would largely affect the group’s insurgency in the country.
Earlier the Afghan government said Mullah Mansoor sought refuge in the stranger’s soil and was repeatedly committing deception, concealing facts, killing innocent people and terrorizing people as well as smuggling drugs and preventing Afghanistan to gain development by emphasizing on continued war in the country.
It also added that the supporters of Mullah Mansoor were sparing no efforts in committing atrocities against the noble and Muslim people of Afghanistan. -KP
THE PASHTUN TIMES
