New Taliban leader calls for unity, says group will ‘continue fighting’

Mullah Akhtar Mansour pledges to 'utilise all his energy' to carry on the message of the Taliban's late leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar 

Mullah Akhtar Mansoor
Mullah Akhtar Mansoor

The new leader of the Afghan Taliban, Mullah Akhtar Mansour, has called for unity and pledged that the group will continue fighting.

In a 33-minute audio message, Mansour pledged to carry on the message of the Taliban’s late leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, whose death was officially announced on Thursday.

"The enemy can't defeat us if we show unity," Mansour said. "I will utilise all my energy to follow our late Mullah Mohammad Omar and his mission.

“We need to be patient and should try to go to those friends who are unhappy. We will have to convince them and take them on board."

Mansour’s admission of a split within the Taliban’s ranks followed reports that the late Mullah Omar’s son and brother walked out of a Taliban meeting called earlier this week to announce the Islamic group’s new leader.

The revelation that the reclusive Omar’s death had been withheld from Taliban commanders for two years has sparked dissent in Taliban ranks. Over the past few months, statements attributed to the late Taliban leader have called for progress on peace talks with the Afghan government.

Unity within Taliban ranks has been further eroded by recent reports that Jalaluddin Haqqani -- the founder of the guerrilla insurgent Haqqani Network faction -- died over a year ago. However, a Taliban spokesman on Saturday denied reports of Haqqani’s death and the group posted a statement on Twitter of Haqqani’s pledge of allegiance to Mullah Mansour, the new Taliban leader.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has recently taken a political gamble by seeking the cooperation of Afghanistan’s longtime enemy, Pakistan, to advance a long-stalled peace process with the Taliban.

The Afghan government is yet to comment on the Taliban's power transition but observers say the emerging split works to its advantage.

"There is no doubt that the Afghan government could reap maximum benefit from the deepening divisions among Taliban ranks," Haroun Mir, a Kabul-based political analyst, told AFP.

"There are two groups within the Taliban -- one that is pro-talks and the other that is anti-talks. The government should work to bring the group which is pro-talks to the negotiation table."

Afghan officials met Taliban cadres last month in Murree, a holiday town north of the Pakistani capital Islamabad, for their first face-to-face peace talks.

Their agreement to meet again in the coming weeks drew international praise and Afghan officials had pledged to press for a ceasefire in the second round.

However, the announcement of Omar's death forced the postponement of a second round of talks that had been expected in Pakistan on Friday.

It is as yet unclear whether Mansour supports the peace talks. He only briefly referred to them in his audio message, by saying that any negotiations would be in “accordance with Sharia law.”