New Taliban leader urges unity in first audio message

The new leader of the Afghan Taliban vowed to continue the group's insurgency and called for unity among his fighters in his first audio message since becoming head of the group that faces deepening splits following the announcement of the death of chief Mullah Omar.

"We should all work to preserve unity. Division in our ranks will only please our enemies, and cause further problems for us," the purported voice of Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour said in the audio recording posted on the Taliban website.

Barely a few hours after Mansour's appointment was announced Friday, powerful rivals within the fractious Taliban questioned the selection process, saying it was rushed and even biased. There have also been reports his predecessor's family members opposed his selection.

On Friday, Taliban commanders who attended the meeting that chose Mansour as Omar's successor told Reuters that Omar's son and brother had walked out of the gathering in protest. The open dissent within the movement's core group underscores the challenge Mansour faces.

Omar's son Mullah Yakoub was favored to take over by some commanders, sources told AFP, but at 26 was considered too young and inexperienced for such a key role.

Mansour's comments in the audio message are apparently aimed at fending off the emerging risk of the group splintering into factions at a time when there is also growing discord over the direction of peace talks with the Afghan government.

The new Taliban leader is seen as a pragmatist and a proponent of peace talks, raising hopes that the power transition could pave the way for an end to Afghanistan's long, bloody war. But though Mansour obliquely referenced the talks in his audio message, it was not clear if he supported them.  

Mansour has powerful rivals within the Taliban who are strongly opposed to peace talks with the Afghan government, with some also unhappy at the thought he may have deceived them for over a year about Omar's death.

This week the Taliban confirmed Omar had been dead for some time. The Afghan government said it was more than two years.

But in the 33-minute message, Mansour implored Taliban cadres to continue waging their 14-year insurgency and be wary of foreign propaganda to sow discord within the group.

"Our goal and slogan is to implement sharia and an Islamic system, and our jihad will continue until this is done," he said in the message. 

Mansour is only the second leader the Taliban have had since Omar, who founded the group in the 1990s and was an elusive figure who was rarely seen in public.

Wire services