Daily Times

A breakaway faction of the Afghan Taliban is fighting for survival after its two key leaders declared allegiance to Taliban supreme leader Maulvi Haibtullah.

Maulvi Abdul Rehman Zahid and Muhammad Muslim Haqqani, both served as deputy ministers during the 1996-2001 Taliban cabinet, ditched Mullah Muhammad Rasool-led splinter group this month.

Rasool has been in Pakistan custody since March 2016 when he fled infighting in southern Zabul province and entered Pakistan. The breakaway faction’s deputy chief Mullah Mansoor Dadullah and his brother were killed when loyalists of then-Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansoor launched a major offensive against dissidents in Zabul province.

The two dissidents in a letter to the Taliban leadership said they had declared allegiance to what they called “Islamic Emirate,” the Taliban used during their rule.

Zahid and Haqqani said they rejoined the movement due to the mediation by Siraj-ud-Din Haqqani, the Taliban deputy chief.

Siraj, known as ‘kahlifa’ among the insurgents, had also been involved in efforts to woo several senior Taliban leaders, who had refused to accept Akhtar Mansour as the new chief after the death of Mullah Omar was revealed in August 2015. Omar, the Taliban founder, had passed away in 2013; however, the Taliban had kept the news secret for nearly three years. Mansour was killed in an American drone strike in May 2016.

Although several key Taliban leaders have parted ways with the splinter group, few former Taliban leaders, including Abdul Manan Niazi, the former Kabul governor, Mullah Nekzad Nangeyal, a former commander in Herat and Abdul Rauf Noorzai, former Khost governor, are associated with the group. Noorzai had attended peace talks in Turkey in January this year, however, the Taliban and the breakaway faction had disowned the talks.

Taliban claim the splinter group’s leaders are “supported” by the Afghan security agencies. Nangeyal, who control some areas in Herat, had been involved in clashes with the Taliban in October that left 16 militants dead, according to Afghan media.

Published in Daily Times, November 26^th 2018.