The son of late Taliban supremo Mullah Omar has been killed in Quetta with opposing factions and Pakistan having a hand in his death, according to a top Afghan lawmaker.
Mullah Yaqub, who had hoped to succeed his father, was killed during meeting in the city four days ago (Thursday), Afghanistan’s Tolo TV reported quoting Afghanistan’s first deputy speaker of the Wolesi Jirga (Lower House of Parliament) Zahir Qadir.
“We were told about Mullah Omar’s death two years back and now his son, who was 21 or 22 years old, was trying to be appointed as his father’s successor. But Mullah (Akhtar) Mansour also tried to become leader, therefore it is said that he was killed some days back,” Mr. Qadir said.
However, Afghan Taliban rejected Qadir’s claim that Mullah Omar’s son had been killed in an attack in Pakistan.
“There is no truth in the claim. Yaqub is alive and I am in contact with him,” a senior Afghan Taliban leader told The Express Tribune . Another Taliban leader, Dr. Aminul Haq, was quoted as saying that he contacted Yaqub two days ago. The claims and counter-claims come amid a widening Taliban rift over Mullah Akhtar Mansour’s nomination as the group’s supremo following the announcement of Omar’s death.
Political chief quits The head of the Taliban’s Qatar-based political office has stepped down, a statement said, a high-profile resignation within leadership ranks highlighting growing discord over the movement’s recent power transition.
Underscoring the deepening internal divisions, Tayeb Agha stepped down on Monday as head of the Taliban’s political office, set up in Qatar in 2013 to facilitate peace talks.
“In order to live with a clear conscience and abide by Mullah Omar’s principles, I decided my work as head of the political office has to end,” Agha said in a statement.
