LASHKARGAH (SW): In-fight among the warring groups of the Taliban has stretched to the southern Helmand province where the group loyal to Mullah Mansour has come under attack by the dissident group led by Mullah Rasoul.
Cracks emerged in Taliban ranks when the news about their late supreme leader Mullah Omar was revealed. The main group later named Mullah Mansour as their new supreme leader but he was opposed by some.
Clashes have been reported from southern Zabul, Farah and other provinces but this is the first time such reports have emerged from Helmand.
A group of rebels loyal to Mullah Rasoul have entered Helmand’s Baghran district and taken 40 of Mansour’s supporters as hostages.
Mullah Abdul Manan Niazi, a spokesman for Akhtar acknowledged while talking to Salam Watandar on telephone that they have held a number of men. He asserted that a number of tribes and armed men are opposed to Mansour’s leadership here.
Abdul Manan added that efforts to remove the differences have so far yielded no results. This group blames Mansour for collaborating to kill Omar in Pakistan.
Meanwhile, locals in the restive Nawzad and Mosa Qala districts said in this regard that a number of innocent men have been taken away by the Taliban on charges of siding with the opposite group.
Salam Watandar wished to reach to Qari Yosuf, spokesman for the Taliban’s Mansour faction but to no avail.
It is vital to note that some five districts in this province are under the Taliban’s influence.
ENDS
