What We Know About Mullah Mansoor, the New Afghan Taliban Chief

Not much is known about his private life, but Mullah Mansoor was a deputy to his predecessor for a long time.

An Afghan newspaper carrying the headline about Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansoor. (Photo: AP)

The long-time leader of the Afghan Taliban Mullah Omar was officially declared dead on 30 July 2015. The Afghan government said that he died about two to three years ago.

This might mean that the new leader Mullah Mohammed Akhtar Mansoor, whose name was recently made public, has been at work all this time.

While not much is known about Mansoor outside the top leadership of the Afghan Taliban, here are a few things we do know about his past and plans for the organisation.

The Afghan Taliban’s new chief Mullah Akhtar Mohammed Mansoor. (Photo: AP)

• Like his predecessor, Mullah Mansoor hails from Kandahar province, the Taliban’s heartland.
• He is believed to be in his late 40s.
• He had been acting as Mullah Omar’s deputy for the past three years.
• Mullah Mansoor may have been leading the group for some time now, if the claims about his predecessor dying two to three years ago are true.
• Mansoor was aviation minister during the Taliban’s 1996-2001 rule.
• After the US-led invasion toppled the Taliban, he was put in charge of political and military affairs in the Supreme Council – a seven-member body which takes major decisions. It is also the body that appointed him to succeed Mullah Omar.

• Mullah Mansoor is only the second man to lead the group since its founding in the mid-1990s.
• If Mullah Mansoor was leading the peace talks for the past two years, it could indicate that the Taliban remains on board. The talks were indefinitely postponed after the announcement of Mullah Omar’s death.

But Mullah Mansoor faces a challenge: Can he keep the Taliban united and rein in hard-liners who want to continue the 14-year insurgency now that the US and NATO forces have stepped back? Or will the Taliban splinter?

Afghan Taliban: The Possibility of a Rift

Newspaper report of the announcement. (Photo: AP)

Mullah Mansoor is unlikely to command the same loyalty as his predecessor, Mullah Omar, who was hailed as the “Commander of the Faithful” by supporters in 1996 after donning a cloak believed to have been worn by Prophet Mohammed.

Many observers believe the loss of Mullah Omar could widen a perceived rift between those who want to make peace with Kabul and those who want to continue the insurgency.

Even if the Taliban remain united under Mullah Mansoor, local commanders could defect to the Islamic State group, which has made some inroads in Afghanistan in recent months.

Mullah Mansoor has reportedly written a letter to the self-proclaimed Caliph of the Islamic State, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, warning his group to stay out of Afghanistan.

(With inputs from AP)