Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour is the new leader.
Reuters/Peshawar
The Taliban have chosen supreme leader Mullah Omar's deputy to replace him, two militant commanders said on Thursday, as Pakistan announced that scheduled peace talks between the insurgents and the Afghan government would be postponed.
Pakistan cited a statement in Kabul on Wednesday about Omar's death as the reason for the delay in negotiations, amid fears that it could trigger a potentially bloody succession battle.
Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour was appointed leader at a meeting of the Taliban's top representatives, many of whom are based in the Pakistani city of Quetta, according to the sources who were present at the shura, or gathering.
"The shura held outside Quetta unanimously elected Mullah Mansour as the new emir of the Taliban," said one commander at the Wednesday night meeting.
"The shura will release a statement shortly."
Siraj Haqqani, leader of the powerful Haqqani militant faction, will be a deputy to Mansour, both commanders added.
Mansour will be only the second leader the Taliban have had since Omar, an elusive figure rarely seen in public who founded the ultra-conservative Islamist movement in the 1990s.
The Taliban eventually conquered most of Afghanistan, imposing strict Islamic law before being driven from power in 2001 by a US-led military intervention.
The Afghan government said on Wednesday that Omar died more than two years ago in the Pakistani city of Karachi.
"We are aware of the reports and trying to ascertain the details," Pakistani foreign ministry spokesman Qazi Khalilullah said.
Taliban divided
The announcement threw into disarray a fledgling peace process fostered by neighbouring Paksitan aimed at ending more than 13 years of war between the hardline Islamist Taliban and the Western-backed Afghan government in Kabul.
The two Taliban commanders did not directly confirm Mullah Omar's death, but one said: "If we are electing a new leader to head the movement, you can yourself understand what that implies".
The Taliban's official spokesman said in a statement early on Thursday that its official team of negotiators based in Doha was "not aware of this process" in Pakistan.
Later in the day, the Pakistani foreign office said a planned second round of meetings set for Friday would be delayed at the request of the Taliban leadership. The two sides held inaugural talks in Pakistan earlier this month.
"Pakistan and other friendly countries of Afghanistan hope that the Taliban leadership will stay engaged in the process of peace talks in order to promote a lasting peace in Afghanistan," the foreign ministry statement said.
Taliban confirm Mullah Omar's death: statement
The Taliban on Thursday confirmed the death of their leader Mullah Omar in a statement, a day after it was announced by the Afghan government.
"The leadership of the Islamic Emirate and the family of Mullah Omar... announce that leader Mullah Omar died due to a sickness," a Taliban statement said, using the movement's official name.
The Taliban statement did not say when he died but said "his health condition deteriorated in the last two weeks".
It added that three days of religious ceremonies would be held "to pray for the soul of Mullah Omar".
