New Afghan Taliban Chief Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada has refused to come to the negotiating table. Furthermore, he said that revenge will be taken for Mullah Akhtar Mansour and Mullah Mohammad Omar’s death.
Earlier on Wednesday, a spokesman for the Afghan Taliban confirmed the death of the group’s Chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour in a US drone strike.
In a statement sent to media on Wednesday, the insurgent group said its new leader is Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, a former Head of the Taliban’s judiciary and one of two Mansour’s deputies.
It said he was chosen at a meeting of Taliban leaders.
Sirajuddin Haqqani, head of a network blamed for many high-profile bombs attacks in Kabul in recent years, and Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob, son of former leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, will serve as deputies, Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban’s main spokesman said in the statement.
Mansour was reportedly killed in Pakistan on Saturday when his vehicle was struck by a US drone, believed to be the first time a Taliban leader was killed in such a way inside Pakistani territory.