The U.S. drone strike that killed the Taliban’s leader has also set up a potential leadership struggle between two of the terror group’s up-and-comers — and may signal more attacks on Western targets.
When the Taliban issued a statement Wednesday confirming that its top man, Mullah Akhtar Mansour, was killed in a recent U.S. strike, it also announced a new leadership team.
The new Taliban number one was identified as Mawlawi Haibatullah Akhundzada, who had been a deputy to Mullah Mansour and is believed to be about 60 years old.
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The U.S. drone strike that killed the Taliban’s leader has also set up a potential leadership struggle between two of the terror group’s up-and-comers — and may signal more attacks on Western targets.
When the Taliban issued a statement Wednesday confirming that its top man, Mullah Akhtar Mansour, was killed in a recent U.S. strike, it also announced a new leadership team.
The new Taliban number one was identified as Mawlawi Haibatullah Akhundzada, who had been a deputy to Mullah Mansour and is believed to be about 60 years old.
But perhaps more significant, according to a U.S. intelligence official, were the promotions of his two new deputies — Sirajuddin Haqqani and Mullah Muhammad Yaqoob.
Yaqoob is believed to be in his early to mid-twenties, but is the son of perhaps the Taliban’s most important leader, Mullah Muhammad Omar, who disappeared several years ago. The Taliban confirmed Omar’s death last summer.
Read more at NBC
Image courtesy of theatlantic.com
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