Taliban Name New Leader

Mujib Mashal

May 25, 2016

Taliban Name New Leader After Confirming Predecessor Died in U.S. Strike

KABUL, Afghanistn — The Taliban broke their silence early Wednesday over the death of their leader, Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansour, confirming in a statement that he had been killed in an American drone strike.

Mawlawi Haibatullah Akhundzada, a deputy to Mullah Mansour, was selected as the new leader of the Taliban, and Sarajuddin Haqqani and Mullah Muhammad Yaqoub were chosen as his deputies, the movement’s leadership council said in the statement. Mullah Yaqoub is the son of the previous Taliban chief, Mullah Muhammad Omar, whose death was acknowledged in July 2015.

President Obama said Monday that Mullah Mansour had been killed in a drone strike Saturday in a restive province of Pakistan.

The Taliban’s spokesmen, who publish regular updates from battlefields across Afghanistan, had remained silent since Mullah Mansour’s killing, as the movement’s leaders convened in the Pakistani city of Quetta to discuss his burial, as well as his successor.

One of their first meetings was at the home of Mawlawi Haibatullah, a figure with deep religious credentials who had been a lesser-known deputy to Mullah Mansour. Over the past year, more attention had focused on another deputy, Mr. Haqqani, who increasingly had been running the day-to-day war for the Taliban as Mullah Mansour was occupied with a campaign of quashing internal dissent and with travel abroad.

Taliban commanders who were aware of the conversations in Quetta had described Mawlawi Haibatullah as a voice guiding the discussions of succession, but not as a front-runner for the leadership.

Many of the movement’s leaders had pushed for a relatively obscure figure to succeed Mullah Mansour — to avoid a divisive personality and for purposes of enhanced security, keeping in mind that Mullah Omar’s reclusive ways long protected him and even concealed his death for years. It appeared Wednesday that such criteria had served Mawlawi Haibatullah well.

Key Facts

Mawlawi Haibatullah Akhundzada, believed to be in his mid-50s, is originally from Kandahar Province and belongs to the Noorzai tribe.

He was a top judge during the Taliban’s rule of Afghanistan.

He served as deputy to the previous leader, Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansour, who was killed in a drone strike Saturday.

He is viewed as a spiritual authority within the Taliban ranks, but one who lacks military experience.

A spokesman for a breakaway faction rejected his appointment.

Mawlawi Haibatullah, believed to be in his mid-50s, is viewed as an important cleric and a spiritual authority within the Taliban ranks, but one who lacks military experience. Mullah Omar, the movement’s founding leader, was reported to have relied on his interpretation of jurisprudence when making decisions. Mawlawi Haibatullah served as a top judge during the Taliban’s rule of Afghanistan, in Kandahar as well as on the Supreme Court in Kabul.

One factor that may have helped in his ascent to the leadership, in the face of competition from Mullah Yaqoub and Mr. Haqqani, was the hope that he could unite a movement that was fracturing under Mullah Mansour, analysts said.

Mawlawi Haibatullah, from the Panjwai district of Kandahar Province, is from the Noorzai tribe. Some of the leaders of a breakaway Taliban faction that revolted against Mullah Mansour are also Noorzais, and they are believed to have better relations with Mawlawi Haibatullah, who has been involved in trying to mediate their return.

But a spokesman for the breakaway faction, Mullah Abdul Manan Niazi, said on Wednesday that the choice of Mawlawi Haibatullah was unacceptable. He said that members of the faction had not been consulted, and he compared the process to the way in which Mullah Mansour rose to power last summer, leading to a revolt.

Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansour, the Taliban leader killed on Saturday. Credit via Reuters 

“Sheikh Haibatullah is not the right choice for us,” Mullah Niazi said, using the term for an elder scholar. “He has been selected quite similarly to Mansour with no consensus of all mujahedeen — it will never be acceptable to us.”

Mullah Niazi said that at least 300 well-known religious scholars should be present at the selection of a new supreme leader but that a small circle had chosen Mawlawi Haibatullah. His swift selection, along with the promotion of the “powerless” Mullah Yaqoub, was intended to create a situation in which Mr. Haqqani holds the real power, Mullah Niazi said.

Along with the announcement on Wednesday came the Taliban’s latest attack on the outskirts of Kabul, targeting a van that was taking employees of an appellate court to neighboring Wardak Province. The Taliban had vowed to take aim at government employees, particularly those in the judicial system, after six of their prisoners in Kabul were hanged recently, after having been convicted on terrorism charges.

Najibullah Danish, a deputy spokesman for the Afghan Interior Ministry, said 10 people had been killed in the attack and four others wounded.