Afghanistan: High Council of Afghanistan Islamic Emirate taliban splinter group chooses Mullah Rasool as chief
Afghan Taliban dissidents have named Mullah Mohammad Rasool as the head of a splinter group following the collapse of months’ long efforts to end the rift within the insurgent group, two Taliban leaders claimed on Sunday.
Rasool was among those who had refused to pledge allegiance to Mullah Akhtar Mansoor as the new Taliban chief. Mansoor, who was elected in early August after the confirmation of death of the Taliban’s longtime supreme leader Mullah Muhammad Omar, has strengthened control over the movement; however, the rebel group will haunt him.
The Taliban rebels, who call themselves as the ‘High Council of Afghanistan Islamic Emirate’ also appointed senior commander, Mansoor Dadullah, as deputy, according to the sources close to the dissidents. Dadullah’s joining of the splinter group would be seen as a challenge to Akhtar Mansoor because of his influence in southern Afghanistan.