Taliban bitten by succession woes; split becomes inevitable

The biggest battle for the Taliban is to keep the flock together. No matter how much the Taliban tries to suggest that all is well within the outfit, the succession battle after the death of Mullah Omar is what is breaking the unity of the group.

Last night there was a news reported stating that Mullah Omar's son, Mullah Yakoob had died . However, the news was quickly denied by the Taliban who clarified the son of Mullah Omar was very much alive.

The succession of Mullah Omar has not been a smooth ride. The new leader Mullah Mansoor is a known stooge of the ISI and half the Taliban is unhappy about it. [Mullah Omar's successor appointment: Taliban's chief negotiator resigns]

Those close to Mullah Omar wanted someone from his family to take over as leader, but with the ISI meddling in the succession affairs, that was not meant to be.

The fight at Heart:

After the death of Mullah Omar was made public there was a condolence meeting attended by scores of Taliban fighters. The decision to name a successor was taken at that meeting.

Many close to Mullah Omar and his family were taken by surprise when the name of Mullah Mansoor was announced.

According to reports there was a great deal of disgruntlement among the fighters who expected that Mullah Yakoob would be named successor.

Moreover half the Taliban does not want a leader who is a stooge of the ISI. There is a great deal of distrust among the cadres where the leadership of Mullah Mansoor is concerned.

If one goes by a report in the Khaama press, Afghanistan, there was a major clash in the Heart region between the fighters of the Taliban over the succession issue.

Fighting could affect peace talks:

For the Afghan government the biggest problem is that the peace talks could suffer. The peace talks have been postponed for now at the request of the Taliban as they needed time in sorting out internal issues after the death of Mullah Omar was made public.

However, security experts see the Taliban splitting two ways soon. There is an undercurrent over this succession issue and those close to the family of Mullah Omar believe that Mullah Mansoor will sell out to the ISI. The Taliban has already seen several splits after Mullah Omar went silent.

While the family of Mullah Omar and several of their followers are unhappy with the new chief, the Doha wing of the Taliban has also not commented. They were clearly unhappy with the new developments and could well side with the Mullah Omar clan thus worsening the problem.