Mulla Mansour asks Taliban to continue Jihad

KABUL: The Afghan Taliban’s new Amir Mulla Muhammad Akhtar Mansour in his first audio message has termed the rumours of dialogue between the Taliban and Afghan government as propaganda of the enemy and asked the Taliban to continue jihad to win the hearts of the Afghan people.
He said the Taliban will continue their struggle for implementation of the Islamic system in Afghanistan. He said the Taliban faction should show unity and should shun their differences. Akhtar Mansour said Sheikh Rehmatullah Akhoonzada and Sirajuddin Haqqani have been appointed his deputies.
“We should all work to preserve unity, as division in our ranks will only please our enemies, and cause further problems for us,” he said in the recording released by the group.
In the 33-minute message, the new Taliban chief also said the insurgency will continue and advised his followers not to pay attention to rumours spread about the Taliban campaign.
Mansour replaced Taliban founder Mulla Mohammad Omar, whose death was confirmed by the militants on Thursday, although the timing of his death is unclear.
“Our goal and slogan is to implement Shariah and an Islamic system, and our jihad will continue until this is done,” he said in the message.
Akhtar Mansour said he will follow the principals of Mulla Omar as Taliban amir, adding that he would try to run the Taliban organisation on the lines of Mulla Omar. He said the political Shura of the Taliban will decide about the dialogues with the Afghan government, adding that all the factions of the Taliban should show unity and should avoid differences.
Akhtar Mansour said that if the Taliban will show unity then they would succeed. He asked the Taliban to continue jihad and win the hearts and minds of the Afghan people. He said the 35 years long struggle of Taliban is near its end, adding that Taliban would not make any compromise on their success.
Meanwhile, the Taliban have denied reports of the death of the founder of the Haqqani Network. A section of the media reported the death of Jalaluddin Haqqani, said to be in his 70s, on Friday when his son Sirajuddin was announced as one of the deputy chiefs of the Taliban following the death of its longtime leader Mulla Omar.
“Some media outlets spread reports... about the death of a distinguished jihadi personality... Jalaluddin Haqqani,” the Taliban said in a statement posted on their website.
“This claim has no basis. Haqqani... was ill before but he has been blessed with good health for a prolonged period now and has no troubles currently.” Haqqani’s family also rejected rumours of his death, according to an Afghan Taliban commander who spoke to AFP from an undisclosed location.
“I talked to his grandson (who is somewhere in eastern Afghanistan) and he completely rejected rumours of his death,” the commander said.
“‘My grandfather is alive, I talked to him last week. He was weak and sick but alive and in good spirits´, he told me.”