He belongs to the Noorzai Durrani tribe while his rival, Mansoor is from Ishaqzai tribe, also based in Kandahar.
One member of his faction described him as an “old and trusted friend” of the late Mulla Omar.According to Taliban sources, Mulla Rasool is not a religious scholar but remained close to Mulla Omar and is considered an ‘old Taliban leader’.
“He spent 10 years with Mulla Omar and remained close to him even after the fall of the Taliban regime,” the faction member said.During the Taliban rule, he served as governor of the Nimroz province and later shadow governor of Farah province.
The dissident faction appointed three other Taliban commanders as deputies to Mulla Rasool.They are Mulla Mansoor Dadullah, younger brother of late Taliban commander Mulla Dadullah Akhund, Mulla Baz Mohammad and Mulla Sher Mohammad, son of late Taliban leader Mulla Nasrullah Mansoor.
Also, Mulla Ghazi Akhund, Mulla Hasan Rahmani and Mulla Abdul Jail were appointed members of their finance commission.The Taliban sources said Mulla Rasool may not succeed in getting the scattered members of the group united, saying he lacked resources and manpower.
“This is no doubt is a serious blow to Taliban movement. Mulla Mansoor is however much more powerful in terms of financial resources and manpower. Mulla Rasool can become a serious threat to him if Mulla Abdul Qayyum Zakir and Mulla Abdur Razzaq publicly announce support for Mulla Rasool,” a senior Taliban member said.
Pleading anonymity, he said some annoyed Taliban members may not support Mulla Rasool as he had appointed Mulla Mansoor Dadullah his deputy.“Everybody in the Islamic Emirate is aware that Mulla Omar himself issued a verbal statement and expelled him from the movement after he was charged with killing innocent people on charges of spying on his slain brother,” he said.
Mulla Rasool and his three deputies were supposed to take oath of their new responsibility on Monday at a ceremony somewhere in Afghanistan. Taliban sources said it was delayed until Tuesday due to security issues, according to Taliban sources.