Mansour consolidating position as new Taliban head

PESHAWAR: Mulla Akhtar Mohammad Mansour continued to consolidate his position in the face of opposition to his appointment as the new head of the Afghan Taliban movement by getting unexpected support on Friday from his supposed rival, Mulla Abdul Qayyum Zakir, who is member of the Taliban’s highest decision-making Rahbari Shura (Leadership Shura).
Zakir, who is a former Guantanamo Bay prisoner and has returned to the battlefield after being released by the US, was reportedly in the anti-Mansour camp until now. However, in a letter addressed to his fellow Taliban he clarified that he wasn’t opposed to Mansour. “This isn’t true. Let me assure you that I will continue to serve from the platform of the Islamic Emirate with all my strength. I pray to Allah to enable me to obey orders more than anyone else in our movement,” his Pashto letter added.
He also referred to reports in the media that Taliban’s Rahbari Shura members Mulla Mohammad Hasan Rahmani, Mulla Abdul Razzaq and Mulla Mohammad Rasool had claimed that Zakir was opposing Mansoor and termed these claims as untrue.
Zakir, who was once heading the Taliban military commission, had earlier been reported to be backing late Taliban supreme leader Mulla Mohammad Omar’s eldest son, Mohammad Yaqoob, to become the new head of the movement. He was said to have attended meetings of the anti-Mansour factions.
Zakir’s support for Mansoor would strengthen his hands and could prompt others in the opposition camp to shift their loyalties. Mansour had been the de facto head of the Taliban movement for some years due to the virtual absence of Mulla Omar from the scene, particularly since April 23, 2013 when he supposedly died, and is well-versed in both political and military affairs. In comparison, 26-year old Yaqoob has no administrative experience and his only plus point is being Mulla Omar’s son.
Mansoor could now prevail upon Zakir to accept some senior position in the Taliban movement. He has even offered the post of the Taliban military commission head to Yaqoob, who has yet to respond positively to it. The offer to Yaqoob could be made attractive by proposing to him to become one of his deputies.
Mansour has also received “baiyat” (pledge of loyalty) from ranking Taliban figures over the past two days at an undisclosed location to seal his appointment as the “ameer” (head) of the movement.
In a smart move earlier, he had appointed Sirajuddin Haqqani, head of the powerful Haqqani Network, and a religious scholar Mulla Haibatullah Akhundzada as his two deputies. Haqqani would look after military matters and Akhundzada would oversee religious matters concerning the Taliban movement.
The two official Taliban spokesmen, Zabihullah Mujahid and Qari Yousaf Ahmadi, have also begun giving out news supportive of Mansour. This showed that Mansour was gradually consolidating his position on all fronts. Though his rival camp was also active as Yaqoob, Mulla Mohammad Hasan Rahmani, Mulla Mohammad Rasool and Mulla Abdul Razzaq held consultations with likeminded Taliban members to attract wider support, Mansour is at an advantageous position to outdo those challenging his elevation to the office of the “ameer” of Taliban movement.
Meanwhile, the Taliban leadership’s ingenuity in acting on behalf of Mulla Omar even after his death was highlighted in a media report on Friday. The Afghan Islamic Press in the report said the Taliban movement distributed six statements attributed to Mulla Omar after his death in April 2013. Most of the Mulla Omar statements were released on the eve of Eid in 2013, 2014 and 2015, but one issued on June 1, 2014 celebrated the release of five top Taliban commanders by the US from the Guantanamo Bay prison in exchange for an American soldier, Bowe Bergdahl, as part of a prisoners’ exchange deal mediated by the government of Qatar. The statement had termed the prisoners’ swap as a big victory for the Taliban.