Afghan Official: Rival Taliban Groups Battle Each Other
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – An Afghan official says Taliban militants loyal to rival leaders have been fighting in a southeastern province, with about 50 men killed in two days.
Mohmand Nostrayar, governor of the Arghandab district of Zabul province, said on Sunday that fighters in a breakaway faction led by Mullah Mohammad Rasool have been joined by Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant militants, AP reported.
Rasool was last week elected leader of the Taliban by a faction that does not support Mullah Akhtar Mansoor, who assumed power after the death of Taliban founder Mullah Mohammad Omar.
The Afghan government announced in July that Mullah Omar had been dead for two years, precipitating a leadership crisis in the group that has waged a 14-year insurgency.