The Taliban’s ‘no comment’ on the murder of Afghanistan’s top peace broker highlights splits within the militia and a plethora of factions who may have wanted him dead which threaten fresh chaos. Experts now suspect that the turban bomber who killed Burhanuddin Rabbani while claiming to bring a special message from the Taliban may not have been sent by the militia’s supreme leader Mullah Omar, or had his approval. With a range of factions standing to benefit from Rabbani’s death, the lack of clarity on the identity of the assassins fans concern about political instability, ethnic tensions and a nebulous insurgency in Afghanistan.
“Whether the assassination of Rabbani was authorised by the Taliban leadership, or was an operation by rogue Taliban or indeed, whether it was conducted by non-Taliban, one would expect an authorised Taliban response, whether it is confirmation or denial or condemnation,” said Kate Clark of the Afghanistan Analysts Network, adding “instead, there has been confusion and silence.” This “may indicate division in the senior ranks about this assassination and what they want to say about it,” Kate said. After the killing, the Taliban’s two main spokesmen-usually swift to claim attacks and exaggerate casualty tolls-were unusually quiet. Their phones were switched off, they did not send their usual stream of text messages to reporters and there was nothing about the death on their glossy website, Voice of Jihad.
Police and other officials said the attack was carried out by a Taliban bomber who waited for the Afghan former president for up to four days, thought to be carrying a special message from the militia. Afghanistan’s intelligence agency said Thursday it believed the Taliban’s leadership body, the Quetta Shura, was involved, but did not provide details. Nearly 24 hours after the attack, the Taliban issued a “no comment” statement on Wednesday, angrily rebutting reports in some media that they had claimed responsibility. “Until we receive more information and our information is complete, our position is that we cannot say anything on this issue,” spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid wrote in Pashto.
