Friday, March 29, 2024
 
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The Man who would be King: Mansour Akhtar

By Manzoor Ahmed



Mullah Mohammed Mansour Akhtar has two deputies. One of them is Sirajuddin Haqqani, the son of Jalaluddin Haqqani and founder of the Haqqani Network. The significance of Sirajuudin’s selection is not lost on the world at large. Both Mansour Akhtar and Sirajuddin Haqqani studied at Darul Uloom Haqqania university, the place where Mullah Omar also studied. The other thing is that both men are Deobandi’s and dead against the Salafi brand being propagated by ISIS (Daesh) in Afghanistan.
However, above all there is a potent threat to the very existence of the Taliban from the Daesh, which is active in the Af-Pak region. Lest we forget, the Daesh represents the Salafi brand of Wahabi Islam with its roots in Medieval Islam. Both groups thus have a different brand ideology. The essential thing to understand is that Pakistan does not want Wahabi ideology spreading in the region and thus it has propped up Mansoor Akhtar as Taliban chief. The ISI understands the repercussions of permitting Daesh to spread in Pakistan. It is already aware that sections of extremist-sectarian groups like Jundullah and SSP have already sworn allegiance to Daesh. Also, they are aware that elements of the TTP have moved towards Daesh.




In this sense, it would be worthwhile to look at where Mullah Mansour Akhtar is coming from. He is an Afghan national, who has studied in Nowshera district of Pakistan. He has also spent considerable time in Balochistan (Pakistan) intermittently. Currently, as head of the Quetta Shura, Mansour lives on the outskirts of Quetta. Reports have also suggested that Taliban effort during the winter offensive in 2015-16 was to get Mansour to make an appearance in Kunduz, where the Taliban was making considerable headway. This could not happen as the Afghan forces created hurdles and also in December last, reports of Akhtar being killed in a clash in Quetta made his security a question mark. This was because the clash had reportedly occurred in the house of a compatriot and the aim was to mend fences with the Rasool faction of the Taliban, which had pledged allegiance to the Daesh.




Mansour Akhtar is a hardliner, of that there is no doubt. It was he who put Mullah Omar in touch with the Pak ISI and facilitated exchanges. To that extent, that link remains in place. The Pak link to the Taliban was recently revealed in press remarks made by former Taliban leader Mohammed Dadullah, who became a deputy in the Taliban faction which arose as rival to Mansour Akhtar in late 2015.
Dadullah claimed in his 5 September 2015 remarks, “the Pakistani intelligence agency summoned me. They said that they had some demands. They presented their demands to me. One demand was that if they gave me some person or place as a target in Afghanistan, I would have to eliminate it. And similar other demands, which were contrary to Islam. They also offered lots of facilities as well such as one-third of the whole Emirate’s [Taliban’s] logistical, technical and military aid, but I left everything and came to Afghanistan. I was not ready to do business over the religion and the country.”
Mansour Akhtar has never been in favour of peace talks with the Afghan government. It was probably his Pak handlers who convinced him that it was necessary to have a dialogue. Pertinently, there has always been a faction within the Taliban which is pro-talks and that is why was easier. Akhtar’s position reportedly changed around 2013 when he came up against Abdul Qayyum Zakir, a Taliban military leader from northern Helmand. Zakir himself is a hardliner who was at one point expelled from the Quetta Shura over his views, but has since been rehabilitated.




It is but natural that conflicts within the Taliban should emerge at this time. The stakes are obviously high, whichever way one looks at it. Mansour Akhtar is aware of the huge revenues accruing to the Taliban from the opium trade; he himself has been involved in this trade. Additionally, any power sharing agreement that the Taliban will have consequences in terms of giving up arms in terms of mainstreaming. Therefore, the Taliban will have to think long and hard before entering into any agreement with the government of Afghanistan.
Mullah Mansour Akhtar is aware of this and that is why he continues to be on the offensive within Afghanistan even as the US, China, Afghanistan and Pakistan try to introduce a new mechanism for a dialogue with the Taliban. Akhtar knows that the twin challenges of keeping the organization united and tackling Daesh require a military offensive. This in turn will allow him to engage in a dialogue with the Afghan government from a position of strength.




Mansour Akhtar is man of many parts. He is the Taliban head, and he is also a businessmen. He reportedly has a telecom company in Dubai and thus travels to Dubai quite often. The Pak link again would come in handy because he lives in Quetta and in Dubai is a former ISI chief and close friend, Lt. Gen. Shuja Pasha. Thus, he needs careful watching. And what to make of reports that he is dead? This is unlikely, because if that had been the case then the Taliban would have fallen like a pack of cards. The best thing to do is to watch and wait. Time will tell if Mansour Akhtar continues to rule the roost or someone else has taken the hot seat in the Taliban ruling council.





(The author is Kashmir based Freelance Journalist )







(Disclaimer: The views, observations and opinions expressed in above write up of Scoop News are strictly author's own. Scoop News does not take any onus or liability for the veracity, accuracy, validity, completeness, suitability of any of information in the above given write up. The information, facts or figures appearing in the write up in no way manifest the position, standpoint or stance of Scoop News and the Scoop News does not assume any encumbrance or answerability of the same.)


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