A file photo of Mullah Akhtar Mansoor.
ISLAMABAD: After initial controversy over his appointment, Mullah Akhtar Mansoor is believed to have strengthened control over the movement. Senior leaders among the dissident group have either joined or assured Mansoor of ending their opposition.
According to Taliban leaders familiar with ongoing reconciliation efforts, Mansoor’s rivals are facing a dilemma as they have yet to agree on a consensus candidate to oppose Mansoor. The spokesman for the dissident group, Abdul Manan Niazi, has however said Mansoor’s rivals will soon meet to elect their chief.
Read: No peace until foreign troops leave Afghanistan: Mullah Mansoor
After winning the support of Mullah Omar’s family, Mansoor’s main focus became turning influential Taliban leader Mullah Abdul Qayyum Zakir, the former head of the Taliban’s powerful military council. Zakir had boycotted the early August meeting in which Taliban leaders had elected Mansoor, according to a Taliban leader privy to the development. Mansoor removed Zakir from his top position in April in 2014 over his “inability” to effectively organise military operations against the foreign and Afghan forces, among other disagreements.
Taliban officials say Zakir also developed differences with Mansoor over for keeping Mullah Omar’s death shrouded in mystery for two years.
Shoring up support
Taliban leaders have confirmed to The Express Tribune that Mansoor’s close confidants have talked to Zakir who has “hinted at giving up his opposition”. One of the leaders said, “We are confident that Mullah Zakir is likely to make a formal decision within a week.”
To scaffold his personal efforts, the Taliban chief has also assigned a team of senior Taliban leaders — Mullah Mutiullah, Mullah Haibatullah, and Mullah Gul Agha — to reconcile with the dissidents. A former minister in the Taliban government, Mullah Nooruddin Turabi, is also very active in the reconciliation efforts.
Two other top leaders—Mullah Abdul Jalil, the former deputy foreign minister and Mullah Hasan, former Kandahar governor—who were among Mansoor’s rivals have now indicated they will part ways with the dissidents, a senior leader told The Express Tribune on Friday. In spite of opposition from Mullah Hasan, the Taliban in charge of finances, Mansoor had not removed him from his post. Turabi and Haibatullah recently met Hasan at his residence and convinced him to back Mansoor, a source shared.
Back in the fold
Mansoor’s team is also working on a plan to bring back Taliban leaders who had been inactive for years.
They contacted senior leader Dr Aminul Haq, who had served as the head of the planning department in eastern Nangarhar province during the Taliban rule Haq confirmed to The Express Tribune the Taliban leaders contacted him to seek his support. “Shariah [Islamic law] does not allow us to continue opposition to the new chief,” Haq said when contacted over the telephone.
Read: Mullah Omar’s family declares allegiance to Akhtar Mansoor
Last month’s declaration of support to Mansoor by Mullah Omar’s family served as a major setback for his rivals who had offered the Taliban’s top leadership position first to Omar’s son Mullah Yaqoob and then to his brother, Mullah Abdul Manan.
A new leader?
As Mansoor intensifies efforts to overcome the internal rifts, some of his opponents are saying they too will speed up efforts to elect their new leader.
“The high council of the Islamic Emirate [of Afghanistan] has held an emergency meeting to finalise the election of the new chief,” said spokesperson Niazi.
Niazi told The Express Tribune religious scholars, commanders, national leaders, and representatives of the mujahideen will soon choose a new leader.
Two other senior Taliban leaders—Mansoor Dadullah and Mutasim Agha Jan—also may continue their opposition Mansoor. Dadullah in a recent video reiterated his criticism of Mansoor amid reports of tensions between his supporters and those of Mansoor in the southern Zabul province. Dadullah had earlier favoured that the new chief be from Mullah Omar’s family.
Jan, a former close confidant of Mullah Omar, who currently lives in the UAE, is unwilling to pledge allegiance to Mansoor. He had shifted to Turkey months after he was seriously injured in a firing incident in Karachi in 2010. He then moved to Dubai and started peace efforts there.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 10th, 2015.
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