KABUL (SW): As the fighting seasons hits its peak, cracks among the ranks of Taliban have deepened following differences over the nomination of Mullah Mansoor after the confirmation of Mullah Omar’s death.
Latest reports suggest Tayab Agha, head of Taliban’s Qatar office has resigned amid changing dynamics within the Taliban movement.
In a statement issued late on Monday night, Agha opposed the election of the new chief ‘outside Afghanistan’ and said the new leader of the ‘Islamic Emirate’ should have been elected among the Taliban fighters and in the bunkers. Agha also regretted the leadership’s decision to keep news of Mullah Omar’s death a secret and initiating Peace Talks via Pakistan.
Taking advantage of the situation, the government forces have intensified their anti-terrorism campaign. As multiple clean-up operations continue in various provinces, new one was launched in eastern Laghman province on Tuesday.
The Ministry of Defense (MoD) claimed to have eliminated 53 armed rebels during the past 36 hours.
Meanwhile, Afghanistan secret service, the National Directorate for Security (NDS) has declared to target all sorts of gathering that mourn Mullah Omar’s death.
There were widespread reports about various such gathering in areas under Taliban influence after news about Omar’s death broke. “Mullah Omar was the biggest cause of war and backwardness in the modern history of Afghanistan,” the National Directorate of Security (NDS) said in a statement.
It claimed Omar was “killed under suspicious circumstances” in a hospital in Karachi, Pakistan in April 2013.
One such mourning ceremony has been dismantled by the security forces in southern Ghazni province. Mohammad Ali Ahmadi, the Deputy Governor confirmed that the mourning ceremony was expected to be held in the outskirsts of Qarabagh and Nooghi villages.
ENDS
