Akhtar Mansur

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Akhtar Mohammed Mansur ( Pashtun ملا اختر محمد منصور DMG Mullā Aḫtar Muḥammad Manṣūr ; * between 1960 and 1970; † May 21, 2016 near Dalbandin in the Chagai district in the Pakistani province of Balochistan ), also known as Mullah Mansur , was the leader of the Taliban since the death of Mohammed Omar in 2013 .

Personal

It is believed that Mansur in the 1960s in Kariz, a village in the district Maiwand in Kandahar province , was born. Ethnically he belonged to the Pashtun people and the Ishaqzai tribe.

Afghan war against the Soviet Union

During the war between the Soviet Union and the Mujahideen in the 1980s, Mansur joined the Mohammad-Nabi-Mohammadi group. Mohammed Omar was a commander in one of Mohammad Nabi Mohammadi's groups at the time. Mansur was used in the war against the Soviet Union in Maiwand, Sang-e-Hessar and Zangawar, among others. Mansur was soon regarded as one of the most prominent mujahideen , so he joined the Maulvi-Obaidullah-Ishaqzai troop in the Afghan civil war in 1987, but the war was lost and Mansur's troop had to surrender. Mansur then emigrated to Quetta .

After the war, Mansur attended theological seminars in Peshawar and joined the Jalozai camp. Furthermore, between 1994 and 1995 he was a student at the Darul Uloom Haqqania Madrasa , where Mohammed Omar also studied. According to the Afghan journalist Sami Yousafzai, Mansur was already popular among the students at that time.

Islamic emirate of Afghanistan

After the proclamation of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan by the Taliban in October 1997 Mansur was first with the task of the security officer of the Kandahar airport charge. He was later appointed Minister of Aviation by Mohammed Omar, who became the head of state of the proclaimed emirate .

In an unsuccessful attempt to capture the northern Afghan city of Mazar-e Sharif by the Taliban in 1997, Mansur was captured by an Uzbek warlord . After two months he was released through a prisoner exchange initiated by Mohammed Omar.

He was reportedly seen by Anand Arni, a former officer in the Research and Analysis Wing organization , hugging then-leader of the Jaish-e Mohammed Maulana Masud Azhar after his release.

After the disintegration of the Islamic Emirates of Afghanistan in 2001, he asked the Afghan President Hamid Karzai for an amnesty , which he was subsequently granted. However, the American forces did not believe in the Taliban's surrender and tried to track down Mansur and capture him, which did not succeed. Mansur fled to Pakistan and there began to reorganize the Taliban.

Quetta Shura and Taliban uprising

According to the Indian Express , in 2007 Akhtar Mansur was with the Quetta Shura , an organization and a kind of extended arm of the Taliban in Pakistan.

According to sources, Mansur influenced military operations in Khost , Paktia and Paktika while serving as the Taliban Council . According to other sources, Mansur was Mohammed Omar's deputy in 2010, so de facto the “number two” of the Taliban. In a - albeit contradicting - report, however, it is said that Mansur became Mohammed Omar's deputy after the arrest of Abdul Ghani Baradar , then number two in the Taliban.

According to former Taliban member Wahid Muzhda , in 2013 Mansur convinced other senior Taliban members to negotiate with Western states. However, this has been partially criticized within the Taliban.

In 2014 Mansur, together with Abdul Qayum Zakir and Gul Agha Ishakzai , is said to have fought against the co-founder of the Taliban Abdul Ghani Baradar over the capture of an opium plantation in the Maiwand district.

Taliban leader

At the end of July 2015, the Taliban confirmed the death of Mohammed Omar and shortly afterwards announced that they had "unanimously" elected Akhtar Mansur as the new Taliban leader. Mansur was not recognized by parts of the Taliban and in particular by Omar's family because he was too close to Pakistan and advocated peace talks. Muhammad Omar's brother Abdul Manan said in an audio message: "In view of these differences, our family has not declared allegiance to anyone." Abdul Manan and military chief Abdul Qayum Zakir, as well as other senior Taliban members, instead endorsed Mohammed Omar's son Muhammad Yakub as the new leader.

On August 13, 2015, Al-Qaeda leader Aiman ​​az-Zawahiri pledged allegiance to Al-Qaeda's media channel As-Sahab Akhtar Mansur.

Mansur published his first message as leader in an audio message on August 1, 2015, in which he urged the Taliban to remain united and stated that differences would only lead to unnecessary problems. He also stated that the Taliban's goal was to enforce the introduction of Sharia law and the establishment of an Islamic state; in addition, the jihad will be continued “until the end”. Under his leadership, the Taliban split into hostile groups.

In December 2015 there were unconfirmed reports that Mansur was seriously wounded and allegedly died as a result of an exchange of fire in Pakistan at a meeting with a former Taliban commander on December 1, 2015. However, there was no official confirmation of his death. The Taliban denied reports of Mansur's death.

On May 22, 2016, the US Department of Defense announced in a press release that Mansur was "very likely" killed on May 21 in a remote border region of Pakistan near Afghanistan by a drone operation carried out by US special forces . President Barack Obama is said to have personally signed the permit for the operation.

A local taxi driver was also killed in the attack on a car convoy. Another victim could no longer be clearly identified; only a Pakistani passport in the name of Wali Muhammad was found, the photo of which shows Mansur. The passport contained stamps indicating that Mansur had returned to Pakistan from Iran five hours before his death. Mansur did so after leaving for Pakistan on April 24, 2016 via the same border post, Taftan Transit Point. In addition, a standard passport photo control took a picture of him during his re-entry. According to a reporter from Voice of America, the passport contained several exit and entry stamps for trips to Karachi in Pakistan and Dubai between 2006 and 2013.

The US Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said it would take several days before the US would officially recognize the death of Mansur. However, both Afghan intelligence sources and the Taliban confirmed Mansur's death.

On May 25, 2016, a Taliban committee announced that Mansur had been killed. Haibatullah Achundsada is the new leader.

Mansur's stay in Pakistan, his trip to Iran and the lack of cooperation between the Pakistani authorities in the search for him were taken in a report in the New York Times in May 2016 as evidence that Mansur was protected by the Pakistani authorities.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Pakistan says US drone strike that killed Taliban leader violated its sovereignty. The Guardian , May 22, 2006, accessed May 24, 2016 .
  2. ↑ Introduction of the newly appointed leader of Islamic Emirates, Mullah Akhtar Mohammad (Mansur), may Allah safeguard hi. Archived from the original ; accessed on November 7, 2019 .
  3. ↑ a b c Shereena Qazi: Profile: Mullah Akhtar Mansoor. Al Jazeera Media Network, August 4, 2015, accessed May 24, 2016 .
  4. ^ A b Robert Crilly, Ali M. Latifi: Who is 'new Taliban leader' Mullah Akhtar Mansoor? The Daily Telegraph , July 30, 2015, accessed May 24, 2016 .
  5. ^ A b Biography of new Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansoor. Pajhwok, July 31, 2015, accessed December 7, 2017 .
  6. ^ Matthew Rosenberg: Around an Invisible Leader, Taliban Power Shifts. The New York Times , December 28, 2014, accessed May 24, 2016 .
  7. ^ Sami Yousafzai: Up Close With the Taliban's Next King. The Daily Beast , July 31, 2015, accessed May 24, 2016 .
  8. ↑ a b c Praveen Swami: Indian intelligence officials allege Akhtar Muhammad Mansour, the newly-appointed chief of the Afghan Taliban, might possibly have played a role in the hijacking of Indian Airlines flight IC-814 during 1999. The Indian Express, 2. August 2015, accessed on May 24, 2016 .
  9. ↑ Nirupama Subramanian: IC-814 hijacking: New Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour escorted Maulana Masood Azhar, says ex-RAW officer. The Indian Express , August 3, 2015, accessed May 24, 2016 .
  10. ↑ Bette Dam: Mullah Akhtar Mansoor: Taliban's new leader has reputation for moderation. The Guardian, August 1, 2015, accessed May 24, 2016 .
  11. ↑ Orlando Crowcroft: Afghanistan: Who is new Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour? International Business Times , July 30, 2015, accessed May 24, 2016 .
  12. ^ Dexter Filkins, Carlotta Gall: Taliban Leader in Secret Talks What an Impostor. The New York Times, November 22, 2010, accessed May 24, 2016 .
  13. ↑ a b Masood Saifullah: Mullah Mansoor's rise to the Taliban leadership. Deutsche Welle , July 31, 2015, accessed on May 24, 2016 .
  14. ↑ Pakistan frees top Taliban leader Abdul Ghani Baradar. British Broadcasting Corporation, September 21, 2013, accessed May 24, 2016 .
  15. ↑ Fourth report of the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team submitted pursuant to resolution 2082. (PDF; 675 kB) United Nations Security Council , June 10, 2014, p. 12 , accessed on May 24, 2016 (English).
  16. ↑ Mullah Omar's family does not recognize leader Mansur. Focus , August 4, 2015, accessed May 24, 2016 .
  17. ↑ Dead as a joker in struggles for influence. ORF , July 30, 2015, accessed on May 24, 2016 .
  18. ↑ New Taliban leader announces continuation of the fight. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , August 1, 2015, accessed on May 24, 2016 .
  19. ^ Sune Engel Rasmussen, Jon Boone: Taliban leader Mullah Mansoor wounded in gunfight, says Kabul. The Guardian, December 3, 2015, accessed May 24, 2016 .
  20. ↑ Targeted Taliban Leader Was in Iran Hours Before Dying in Drone Strike. Voice of America , May 23, 2016, accessed May 23, 2016 .
  21. ^ Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Mansour killed in US drone strike in Pakistan. The Express Tribune, May 22, 2016, accessed May 24, 2016 .
  22. ↑ Attack on Mullah Mansur: Taliban confirm death of their boss. n-tv , May 22, 2016, accessed May 24, 2016 .
  23. ^ Tahir Khan (Reuters): Afghan Taliban elect Mullah Mansour's successor, confirm death in US drone strike. The Express Tribune, May 25, 2016, accessed May 25, 2016 .
  24. ^ Mark Landler, Matthew Rosenberg: US Strike on Taliban Leader Is Seen as a Message to Pakistan. The New York Times, May 23, 2016, accessed May 24, 2016 .
personal data
SURNAME Mansur, Akhtar
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Mansur, Akhtar Mohammed (full name); Mansur, Mullah; ملا اختر محمد منصور (Pashtun)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Afghan Taliban leader
DATE OF BIRTH between 1960 and 1970
DATE OF DEATH May 21, 2016
Place of death Dalbandin , Chagai District , Balochistan , Pakistan