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Mullah Omar did not die in Pakistan, say Afghan Taliban
KABUL: The Taliban on Thursday confirmed the death of their leader Mullah Omar but did not say when or where he died. The statement says “his [Mullah Omar's] health condition deteriorated in the last two weeks” and “not for a single day did he go to Pakistan”.
The statement went on to say that three days of religious ceremonies would be held “to pray for the soul of Mullah Omar”.
The militants said Omar died of “sickness”, citing family members, contradicting the Afghan government's stance that the one-eyed warrior-cleric had passed away in the Pakistani city Karachi. Afghanistan's premier intelligence agency had also claimed Omar died in a Karachi hospital in April 2013.
Omar's death marks a significant blow to the Taliban, which is riven by internal divisions and threatened by the rise of the self-styled Islamic State group, the Middle East jihadist outfit that is making steady inroads in Afghanistan.
“The leadership of the Islamic Emirate and the family of Mullah Omar... announce that leader Mullah Omar died due to a sickness,” a Taliban statement said, using the movement's official name.
The Taliban, who were faced with the tricky process of choosing a successor to the near-mythical figure who led them for some 20 years, appointed Mullah Akhtar Mansoor as their new supreme leader earlier today.
According to DawnNews sources, the Afghan Taliban held meetings Wednesday night, after the reported death of Mullah Omar, and after consultation between members of the Shura Council, elected Mansoor as their new chief.
Mansoor was previously Omar’s deputy, and was running the 20-member council after Omar’s death.
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.............Letter to IS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi......................
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The Afghan Taliban held meetings Wednesday night after the reported death of Mullah Omar, and after consultation between all members of the Shura Council, elected Mansoor as their new chief.
Mansoor was previously Omar’s deputy, and was running the 20-member council after Omar’s death. He has the support of Taliban’s senior leadership.
Mansoor is also said to be in favour of peace talks with the Afghan government, and reportedly has appointed Haji Din Muhammad to participate in the peace process.
However, sources claim that not all members of the shura are in favour of peace talks.
According to sources, two new deputies were also chosen during the meeting, one of whom is reportedly Sirajuddin Haqqani.
Sirajuddin leads the Haqqani network, a key ally of the Afghan Taliban. Although he had pledged allegiance to its leader Mullah Omar, Sirajuddin's group operated fairly independently.
Mullah Mansoor, a former aviation minister in the Taliban regime and a former shadow governor of Kandahar, has long been known for his moderate views on reconciliation which have pitted him against hardliners.
He was one of the top Taliban leaders whose accounts the US had frozen as a result of the 9/11 attacks.
Mansoor was also one of two senior Taliban figures named by Mullah Omar to replace the militant organisation’s then No.2 Mullah Abdul Ghani Barader, who was arrested in Pakistan in February 2010.
Recently, the Taliban warned the self-styled Islamic State (IS) against waging a parallel insurgency in Afghanistan. “The Taliban do not consider the multiplicity of jihadi ranks beneficial to Muslims.”
In a letter sent to IS, Taliban’s then deputy leader Mullah Akhtar Mansoor told the IS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi that jihad against the Americans and their allies in Afghanistan must be conducted under one flag and a unified command.
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