Kabul – A report on Thursday in Kabul said Taliban splinter group has denied allegiance to the Taliban’s new leader.
The faction’s leader had decided to split from the Taliban after news of the death of Mullah Omar surfaced last summer, citing non-consensus amongst the group in choosing a successor.
The splinter group said in a statement charged that not all suggestions by Taliban officials and the Ulema, a council of religious elders and clerics, had been taken into consideration in the selection of the new leader.
Mullah Akhtar Mansoor, who took over after Omar, was killed in a U.S. drone strike in a remote area near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border on Saturday.
Mullah Mohammad-Rasool, Head of the Splinter Group, criticised the appointment.
He noted that after the death of Mullah Mansoor, we called on all Taliban not to repeat past mistakes and appoint a new leader with complete consensus.
Meanwhile, Afghan and U.S. coalition officials said on condition of anonymity that that in an effort to increase the cracks within the insurgency and push some of its leaders towards peace talks, the Afghan government is providing financial and military support to breakaway factions.
Afghan and U.S. officials said Rasool’s faction and other fractious Taliban groups have been receiving cash, ammunition and weapons from the Afghan government. (dpa/NAN)